The Therapist
by Nocturne Weaver
Summary: Hyuga Hinata is a poor girl turned somewhat popular due to her talent for massage. Her elevating success at her new job in a high-class bathhouse attracts Sabaku No Gaara. Her special service attracts even more unwanted attention.
1. Beauty

_**The Therapist  
**Chapter One_

**o o o o o o o o o o**

**All chapters have been or will be edited!**

* * *

"**HIRING  
**_A medical skilled in  
the arts of massage.  
__**Must be 18 or older**__.  
More info at-  
9:00- 11:  
10 Apr- "_

Hyuga Hinata tore the hastily taped, crinkled paper off the streetlight. The bottom corner of the paper was ripped off, but it didn't matter. This paper meant the possible start of her future, a purpose for her life! She reread the big black words, feeling the letters in her mouth. Readjusting her bookbag, she looked down at the paper again and her smile faded.

_This paper doesn't say where to meet, _she thought._ Is it a prank? It seems almost too good to be true. _

She frowned deeply, thinking for a moment. _I'll just go to Tsunade-sama. Hopefully she will confirm this as a valid job..._

The sun gently settled itself behind the distant hills, casting exaggerated shadows as the streetlights crackled to life. Hinata slowly breathed in the cool effluence of dusk-chilled foliage and listened to a raven cry his last caws of the day, allowing the atmosphere to calm her senses. Then she looked both ways before stuffing the paper into her pocket and crossing the streets that lead to the Hokage building. Apprehension filled her with every step.

_Please, please, please, God, _she begged_. Make this chance my future. Please, give me a purpose!  
_

**o o o o o o o o o o**

The Hokage read the flyer while Hinata watched her with large, nervous eyes. A critical expression crossed Tsunade's face and she put the flyer down on the table.

"Is-is something wrong, Tsunade-sama?" Hinata anxiously asked.

"Firstly, it's quite unusual for bathhouses to advertise job offers on the streets," Tsunade explained. "Besides, there's only a handful of trained masseurs in Konoha and I don't recall any of them resigning."

"Then...is it ineligible?"

"Not quite. Let's check...April 10, that's tomorrow...job as masseur, obviously at a relaxation house. Shizune! Bring me the latest employment feeds of the bath and tea houses. Also send someone to find and bring back a flyer that resembles this one."

Shizune nodded and went to fulfill her orders. Tsunade thumbed through the feeds immediately after receiving them. She stopped at a page, and her eyes crinkled with glee as she separated it from the pile. Then as she stared at Hinata over the rim of the paper, her expression grew solemn. Hinata felt her heart sink. Within minutes a Chuunin landed upon the Hokage's window, a small piece of torn paper in his outstetched hand.

"This is the missing part of the flyer. There was no other flyer in town, Tsunade-sama," he said. Tsunade nodded and gestured to Hinata. Hinata took the scrap of paper, fitted it with the flyer, then examined the complete lettering.

"'Hiring: A medical skilled in the art of massage. Eighteen or older. More info at—'"

As Hinata continued to read the paper, Tsunade reached into a drawer behind her desk and pulled out a packet. Hinata finished reading and watched to see what the Hokage was doing.

"Hinata, come here. There is something more important I have for you."

Hinata looked at the Hokage questioningly and carefully tucked the frayed paper into her bookbag. Tsunade wiggled the packet while looking mischievously at the woman before her.

"Well, Hinata. It doesn't say anywhere on the feeds that there had been a employee withdrawal from the bathhouses." Suddenly, Tsunade smiled and handed Hinata the sheets. Hinata took it and thumbed through the papers. Her name was written on the first page in red ink, along with a handwritten note. Stapled to the back were directions to a bathhouse, her certificates, a resume and a job application. She lifted an eyebrow and looked at Tsunade, feeling confused but sensing a dormant hope rising in her.

"Hokage-sama? What's this?" She was nervous to ask.

"I sent a recommendation to any competent bathhouse to take you in as a masseur. This was the only one that was interested. But," Tsunade said quickly, stopping the look of sorrow from forming on Hinata's face, "Look. Right there. The very signature of the mistress of Yuuto Springs."

The hope became a half-risen sun, piercing into Hinata's eyes and making her tear up. "T-Tsunade-sama? T-The Yuuto Springs?"

The Yuuto Springs was the most prestigious bathhouse resort in the Leaf Country, situated right on the lushest border of Konoha. Kages, lords, and powerful shinobi from other countries all passed through Yuuto at some point during a visit to the Leaf Country. A professional masseur working at the Yuuto Springs was highly admired and envied by workers at lower-class bathhouses. Not just because of the ensuing benefits and admiration, but the masseur would also have the opportunity to meet and serve the prestigious or notorious people who passed by.

Tsunade gave the slender woman a warm, loving smile. "You've been working very hard in all your years at that prestigious medical college and you've surpassed every student. I saw only you fit to be given a rare opportunity like that."

"T-Thank you so very much, Tsunade-sama!" Hinata cried. She gave the Hokage a joyful squeeze, unable to stop the tears of joy from dripping out. Tsunade returned the hug and placed a hand on Hinata's cheek.

"Maybe," she said," maybe it is God who had pained you so much these past years, but maybe He will soon be giving back to you. Like this job offer." She gestured to Hinata's bookbag. "I was meaning to surprise you with this tomorrow, but maybe it was meant to be today since that flyer changed things. Throw it away."

Hinata bowed deeply to the Hokage again and flew out the door, giggling like a tickled mouse in spite of herself. Local neighbors and fellow rooftop ninja craned their necks to indulge in a glimpse of the extremely reserved Hyuuga girl prance and squeal throughout the streets.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Finally, all those years of hard work were paying off! Hinata remembered her last day of at the Chuunin academy, still seventeen and unsure of her future. She was too frail to continue being a ninja- let alone a successful one- and not intelligent enough to become a fully fledged medic. She also wasn't what someone would call an artisan, but she enjoyed working with her hands. Her father pushed her to attend medical school anyway. Her summer was half spent in despair, with the prospect of having a foggy future. But she found out the medical school offered courses in massage therapy. She worked feverishly and nonstop. Her skills grew frightfully fast, and she forged herself a modest but sturdy reputation of the "best masseur student". However, this title was quickly exchanged for a depressing price; other students refused to befriend her because of jealousy, and without connections she was unable to find any job offers quickly.

One by one, all her classmates left the college with purposes for their lives and a job to practice their skills with. All but Hinata. No friends, no job offers, no reason to apply her education. She ended up living in a crumbling apartment with a fifty-cent weekly rent; Hiashi was too disappointed to take her back into the house. But Tsunade-sama tried to help, and help she did. Because of her, Hinata had a job offer from the Yuuto Springs, the most famous and flourishing bathhouse in all of Leaf Country!

Hinata ran into her room and wiped her eyes. Concentrating hard, she read through the documents, memorizing the directions to the bathhouse. She flipped to Tsunade's note.

_Dear Hikaru-san,  
Hyuga Hinata is a girl of remarkable talent and stands out in her kindness. To be honest her shy, soft nature heavily impacts her voice and tact, but inside she is a well-intentioned, ever-positive and ever-enduring soldier through hard work and experiences. Hinata also has the remarkable ability to incorporate her greatest determinations with her short-comings; she sacrifices comfort to expand her boundaries to their largest. She will be able to fulfill what duties you would appoint her.  
-Hokage_

Hinata suddenly felt a bit nervous. Tsunade-sama sounded so proud of her. And what were these abilities that Tsunade's words claimed she possessed? Was it possible to have confidence in a part of herself she did not know she had? She knew that any mistress of a famous bathhouse would be sharp as a hawk and overwhelmingly critical. And with a recommendation from the _Hokage_, who knows what other hidden expectations they would want from her! Hinata ignored the uncomfortable, churning sensation in her gut and took a deep breath. She couldn't think like this. She needed confidence. There was a reason why the Hokage had recommended her and she would show it.

A sudden realization made her reach for her bookbag and dig the flyer from its contents. It read: "Hiring: A medic skilled in the art of massage. Must be eighteen or older. More info at the 5th office at the Yuuto Springs Resort. 9:00-10:00 p.m. on 10, April." The woman cocked her head and raised her eyebrow.

_Why did Tsunade-sama say this was useless?_ She wondered. Then she smiled. Going to her desk, she tore three pieces of tape and proceeded to attach the pieces of flyer together. She retrieved an old picture frame from her closet and framed the flyer.

"A clearing of sunlight in a landscape of darkness," she announced quietly. Then she smiled and dug through her drawers, tossing her best clothes onto the bedspread. Showtime.

* * *

Hinata froze at the sight of Yuuto Springs Resort. It was the largest and most beautiful bathhouse she'd ever seen. She was scared to even approach its property; the entrance literally glowed in its magnificence. There was a garden in front of the bathhouse flanked by a tunnel of healthy sakura trees, a koi pond filled with large elegant fish, and rocks carpeted with soft green moss. Fireflies floated lazily throughout the air and floor lanterns gave off a soft, orange light. Wooden wind chimes tinkled softly in the trees. Glass bowls filled with lit candles floated lazily throughout the pond, emitting a soft warm smell of charcoal. A glistening cherry-finished wooden bridge assisted by a path of polished stepping stones led the way into the bathhouse.

Inside, large pillars made of polished dark wood trimmed the high ceilings. Golden bowls containing glowing embers hung from the beams, providing the room with warm light. The place looked old-fashioned, with raised wooden floors and aged golden tatami mats upon them. The warm orange walls were decorated with richly detailed paintings and lovely clay sculptures were displayed on wooden shelves and brackets. An olive tree was in the middle of the room, holding candles upon its crooked branches.

Hinata clutched her papers to her chest and stared. She had tried dressing up for the occasion: curled hair, a fitted outfit, some lip balm. But simply standing in the presence of this building made her feel extremely inferior and out of place.

_Perhaps the workers here are beautiful as well,_ she thought with some dread. Hinata became aware of another person watching her. She spun around and was face to face with a very pretty young woman around her age, with light tan hair and stunning blue eyes. She wore a fitted black kimono of sorts with rolled-up sleeves and a pattern of kanji at the hems, tied at the waist with a lightly colored silk belt that matched her eyes.

"Hello, my name is Ino," the girl said, smiling at Hinata. "Are you lost?" She scrutinized Hinata's outfit, her expression unreadable.

Hinata swallowed hard and tried not to stutter. "Oh...well, I-I'm h-here for t-the m-masseur job..."_  
_

Ino gasped and clapped her hands with surprise. "Oh wooow! It's you? Come, follow me! What was your name again?"

"H-Hyuga Hinata."

"Hyuga Hinata? Your name sounds pretty familiar. My friends who went to med school would talk a lot about a Hyuuga girl who gave epic massages."

"R-really?"

Ino led Hinata through halls with sliding paper-screen doors, chattering all the while. Hinata could hear loud raucous laughter and see many moving silhouettes behind the paper.

"You know that Yuuto Hikari-sama is the mistress of this bathhouse right? The workers all call her Matriarch. She can be very strict and scary. The reason why a lot of the staff here know your name is because she like never hires masseurs out of college unless they're really _really_ good! And word got around that the Hokage herself recommended you, like wow, so crazy—it IS true you got the Hokage's recommendation, right?"

"Y-Yes...it's right here—"

"—Wow! I bet you're awesome with your skills. Anyway, so it's _pretty_ rare for her to fire anyone here, because Yuuto likes to keep workers until their death or retirement or something like that, and also because she puts allllll" —Ino gestured with her arms— "this thought into someone she's gonna hire, so that she won't have to keep seeing new people. Also like, the masseur is so much more valuable than us bathhouse workers because so many of the prestigious people who come to this bathhouse always requests a relaxing massage for their strained muscles and stuff, because you know that a lot of ninjas come here, right? I think she'll eventually expect you to make like one-fourth of the bathhouse's earnings, something like that, and like, its so crazy how she could fire someone as good as Sakura anyway..."

"S-Sakura?"

"Yeah. Haruno Sakura. You know her?"

Hinata froze at the name. Haruno Sakura. She knew Sakura from college. Sakura wasn't her best friend, but she was one of the very few people who ignored the jealousy and enjoyed her quiet company instead. They had teamed together often for massage exams and Sakura was very good at what she did. Hinata liked her very much and was very glad when she found out Sakura left college with a very good job, probably this one. She felt guilt when realizing she might be replacing Sakura.

"You don't know her, huh?" Ino flipped a section of her cornsilk hair behind her shoulder. "Sakura...she like...well...did something really icky." She gave a disgusted scoff.

Hinata glanced at Ino, her expression shocked. "Icky?"

Ino balled her hands into fists. "Yeah! Well, when she was here, she did took advantage of some things—they were really nasty things!—something that..."

Hinata was unable to listen to Ino once they reached the heart of the building. It was a massive room, and a glorious sight; unlike other bathhouses where there would simply be a hot spring walled in half by gender, there were separate steaming springs with a small patio built around it, surrounded by a wooden screen for privacy. Beautiful flowering vines weaved through cracks and around the bamboo poles of the walls, holding everything in place. In one corner of the room there was a large pile of rocks with a steaming waterfall, supplying all the springs in the room with fresh steaming water. Along another wall of the large room was a series of stairs leading to sections of veranda where people were eating or drinking.

In the very center of the room was a massive tree. When Hinata looked up the tree grew all the way to the ceiling of the bathhouse-past all seven floors and through the bridges and staircases crisscrossing across the floors. Veils of moss hung from the limbs, and through the foliage Hinata could actually see hammocks and people resting against the branches.

She was sad when they left the room to enter another hallway. The hallway was very steamy and smelled densely of sweat and aloe. Ino leaned towards Hinata. "This is the sauna section of our bathhouse. There's shelves of waterproof books and scented towels. I know you think it smells funny, but it's believed that aloe's very good for your skin. And also, sweating excessively gives your skin a beautiful glow. See mine?"

Ino held out her hand for Hinata to see.

"I do sauna treatment once a week. Keeps my skin soft and glowing. Oh, this next floor we're going to is the beauty floor. Manicures, pedicures and facials and all that stuff. Something funny: guys get facials just as much as girls."

Hinata and Ino climbed a set of stairs. They reached the second floor and Hinata realized she was standing on the second balcony overlooking the hot spring room.

"Like, sooo amazing, isn't it? Oh and...Hinata? Hinata, right? What a beautiful name. Anyway, the floor above us is the kitchen. Yuuto has the best food out of all the bathhouses. We grow our own sushi here...Chouji, our cook, can make ANY dish you ask of him. Masseurs here are sooo lucky, cause Chouji will make whatever they request! We normal bathhouse workers are forbidden unless it's like, our birthday or something. When you get accepted, we HAVE to eat lunch together! Oh my gosh!"

They climbed the stairs to the kitchen floor. Hinata actually saw drool on the corner of Ino's lips as they passed the kitchen. She couldn't help but feel like drooling herself; the delicious scents spewing out of the swinging doors were mouth-watering. Just then, the doors opened and a very large man poked his head out, grinning at Hinata.

"I know you," he called out happily. Hinata recoiled. Ino hissed at the man and he retreated back into the doors. "That's Chouji," she said, rolling her eyes. They continued up the next flight of stairs.

"Okay, Hinata, so this floor here is the masseur's workplace and aromatherapy cells. The two other floors above are the same. They're the 'relax without getting wet' floors. And the last floor is the office," Ino said. "I hope you do good with the interview, by the way. How are you feeling?" She watched Hinata's face.

Feeling her cheeks burn, Hinata's fingers slowly rose to poke together as it was her customary habit of expressing nervousness or embarrassment. She looked down at her shoes and breathed deeply.

"Here's some advice," Ino said. "Be confident. You know. Don't act all stupid from fear or anything. She doesn't like fools. She also _hates_ dishonesty. She knows if you're lying or not. So don't lie. If you lie to her, then you're fired. Being honest no matter how much wrong you have done is always better than lying to get away, she says."

Hinata nodded, and looked up at the last floor. It looked ominous. "Um, Ino-chan?"

Ino smiled at Hinata's quiet voice. "Yes?"

"I...I...What if I can't make it?"

Ino shook her head and frowned deeply. "Don't think that! You gotta be positive about these things!"

"Do you suppose I might—"

"Hinata, I wish I could speak of what might happen to you. But whatever happens, I wish you the best."

Hinata nodded and breathed quietly in relief. "Thank you."

"We're here."

Hinata snapped up her eyes and stared. They were at the seventh floor, in front of a pair of richly painted, crescent-shaped doors. She hesitated, then slowly and loudly tapped on one door.

"Come inside," called a smooth voice from behind the doors.

Ino looked at Hinata and patted her shoulder. "Good luck," she whispered. "I hope you make it!" She smiled and gave Hinata the thumbs up.

"T-Thank you." Hinata nodded, gulped, clutched the papers to her chest and slowly pushed open the door.

* * *

**I did a snippet of research. Masseurs do not, in fact, make lots of money, and the job itself compared to law or medicine is basically a ball python against an anaconda. Not that it's bad or anything. And this is a story so, who cares. Heh. (:**


	2. The Matriarch

_**The Love Therapist  
**_Chapter Two

**o o o o o o o o o o**

**I** want to thank all the people who reviewed, favorited and alerted this story. I'm very grateful to you all :D Now I'm a bit more sure that this story is wanting to be told and devoured (: Thanks again!

Though I have a feeling this chapter would be skipped because it's predictable here, I'm grateful for those who do bother to stop by. But as I am practicing symbolism in this story, this chapter is no an exception to the previous statement. x)  
I hope you like this chapter. (:

* * *

Yuuto "Matriarch" Hikari was a woman who looked every bit as sinister as her nickname. Hinata was surprised; she expected someone old, decrepit and grumpy. The Matriarch was surprisingly young, around her mid thirties. She was a tall, slender woman with a mask-like face and a cold frown, but she wore them with dignity. Her long neck proudly held up a small nose, thin lips and large, almond shaped eyes set on a slim oval face. The Matriarch's eyes held a quality which was just as unusual as Hinata's; her eyes were dark blue but silver around the pupils. She was clothed in a maroon silk robe, her hair was pulled into a tight bun. She was no doubt a woman with the ability to be attractive, but also very scary.

"Close the door," she instructed Hinata in a voice filled with authority.

Hinata obeyed and attempted to shut the door behind her. It was too heavy. She tried pushing with both hands, but as she did so her papers slipped out of her hand and fluttered across the floor. She felt her face burn with extreme embarrassment, torn between picking up her papers or shutting the door.

A long skinny hand slammed the door shut for her. Hinata looked to see the the Matriarch staring down at her with a flaming intensity. Then the Matriarch smiled and took her hand off the door.

"Pick up your papers and place them on my table, Hyuga Hinata."

The nervous girl immediately grabbed her papers and lay them on the desk, forgetting to straighten up the sheets. The Matriarch smiled again and closed her eyes in a way that imitated how a mother would hold her temper for the last time before she exploded at her child. She snatched up the papers, straightened them up herself, then shoved them into an open desk drawer. She slammed the drawer shut and gestured for Hinata to sit down on one of the plush chairs in front of the desk. For a moment she just stood there and observed Hinata. Then she spoke, her voice soft and clear as crystal in the large room.

"You learned quite a lot in this busy hour." Hinata nodded but said nothing. She felt intimidated and nervous about sounding like a broken squeak toy.

"There are, however, many policies Ino forgot to inform you on, Hinata." The Matriarch began a slow walk from her desk to Hinata's chair. "Now these are just the basics. You already know to call me ma'am. My first policy, you already know. Lie to me, the staff, or generally anyone in this bathhouse, and you are gone. Dishonesty is not tolerated in this bathhouse." Hinata nodded.

"As Ino said, I like looking into different personalities. I enjoy hiring different people with different attributes. And," here The Matriarch glared at Hinata, sending shivers down her spine, "I will not take in people who would keep grudges or try making enemies and disorder among the staff because of differences. Part of the experience of working here is learning to embrace differences in others while going along together in harmony. The only personality trait that is vital to someone's acceptance here is that he or she will never try creating conflict with someone different. If you get the job, I expect you to do the same. Understand this?"

"Y-Yes ma'am."

"I am strict with everyone in this bathhouse, and the more respect you earn from me, the more freedom you have. However, you are wanting to become a masseur, and that is different..."

The Matriarch frowned to herself.

"Hinata. Sensible people, or imaginative people? Choose just one."

"Hmm...I-It's hard to choose...I'd say s-sensible people."

"Do you believe children should be taught to handle responsibilities early in life?"

"Y-Yes. But not in a way t-that would keep t-them from exercising their fantasies freely; a child s-should not be f-focusing on responsibilities like a-an adult does."

"What do you see more useful: a vivid imagination or a strong realistic sense?"

Here Hinata paused. She hated reality. She knew reality was the better way to find what she needed but it did nothing but hurt her so far. "A-a vivid i-imagination."

"If you could personify yourself as any object, what would it be and why?"

"I...I-I-I...a-a..." Hinata felt herself cowering under Matriarch's gaze. She felt stupid. _If I continue to stutter, that means I want to get up, get out, and never get a job again, _Hinata challenged herself.

"I...would b-be a marionette, I believe."

"Why?"

"Because dolls are...unattached, so a person can directly control or change a doll when he so desires...but a marionette requires practice in order to maneuver the strings correctly...they are dolls who attempt to create life of their own through the strings they are attached to, w-with the help of a—"

"Are your other outfits similar to the one you're wearing now?"

"...N-No, ma'am. I-I tend to wear much baggier clothing."

"Is your hair naturally curly?"

"No ma'am. It is usually straight."

"Stand up."

Hinata immediately scrambled to her feet.

The Matriarch grabbed Hinata's hands and observed them. She stared into her pearly eyes, then grabbed her chin and turned her head at various angles to study the skin of her face.

"Your eyes, they are most peculiar. Tell me, is there anything you can do with them?"

"Y-Yes...Byakugan!" Hinata activated her Byakugan and looked at the Matriarch, thought she tried not to stare directly into her navy-and-silver eyes.

"So, it seems as if you are related to another one of my workers here."

Then the Matriarch strode away from Hinata and took hold of a strange looking device off the wall -it was a gold type of cone with a large hollow tube attached to it- and instructed into the cone, "Neji, bring the body. Ino, prepare an outfit for the new worker. Temari, I've a new assignment for you." The Matriarch turned to Hinata and inclined her head.

Neji? Did she hear correctly?

Hinata felt fear and joy surge through her heart. She had no idea what Matriarch meant by a body, but the word "new worker" certainly meant she was hired!

"Oh thank you, Matriarch-sama!" cried Hinata. "I—"

"Don't you dare say you'll try your best," snapped the Matriarch. "You may be working at Yuuto Springs, but you aren't even close to the elite rank of a masseur. Weeks and weeks of work will be needed from you before you even go up a single rank."

Hinata's smile faded as the the Matriarch walked to her desk and began writing furiously on a piece of paper. In about three minutes, there was a knock at the door. The mistress glided over to the knob and yanked open the door. Outside stood Ino and a man with pearly irises that matched Hinata's eyes. Hinata gasped. She openly smiled at him but he was busy pulling some sort of gurney into the room. Pushing the gurney into the room, he promptly left without seeing Hinata. Ino was holding a bundle of dark blue and white cloth.

Ino shot Hinata a bright grin and a wink. The Matriarch excused her after taking the outfit.

Hinata was staring at the gurney. On top of the gurney there was a fake body, most likely made of some sort of silicone or rubber material. A whole jumble of red and white objects was in a basket underneath the gurney. She turned to Matriarch, who smiled at her.

"Hinata, here is your outfit. You will be starting at eight 'o' clock sharp tomorrow, no excuses. If you're late, don't bother coming. Now I will tell you about your further training."

Matriarch gestured to the disassembled body. "As an applicant for Yuuto Springs masseur, you must undergo many days of review to see if you're fit for the job. You will be expected to put the muscles, bones and organs in the correct places of this body by tomorrow night—" She glared at Hinata to silence her gulp,"and when the body is put together correctly, you will perform to me the different massage techniques used on all the different parts of the body. Your resume that Tsunade-sama sent me implies that you have knowledge of reflexology and intermediary chakra-healing skills. Along with your Byakugan, it adds a plus as you can see the energies in the body."

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. I will also be giving you a list of different massage oils and you write down each oil's qualities. Meanwhile, you will be learning the basics of employee work. You will have curfews for break-times. You will be cleaning anything that your group leader wishes to be cleaned, and learn to make chemicals. Ino told you about each floor's workings; memorize what you hear. Figure out on your own by observing."

Hinata nodded and stared at the Matriarch's strange eyes as she took this all in. _...Doesn't seem too hard._

Just then, another knock sounded at the door.

"Come in," called Matriarch.

A tall curvy woman with four ponytails emerged. Her outfit matched Ino's except the color, which was black, tied with a violet ribbon sash.

"Did you call?" the woman asked. She noticed Hinata beside her and turned back to the Matriarch.

"Temari, she's your new rookie. Hinata, this is Temari-san. She is your group leader."

"Wha? Another one?"

Matriarch nodded. "You are the best of all my leaders, Temari. Hinata is applying for masseur. I want you to give her the most of what can be taken for her training."

Temari suppressed a groan, but glanced at Hinata and gave her a critical look. Hinata smiled shyly and tried to make a friendly gesture, but before she could do anything, Temari was answering Matriarch with a somewhat frightening tone of voice,"She'll get the most. I promise she'll get more than she could take."

Then she turned to Hinata and frowned. "What's your name?"

"H-Hyuga Hinata, ma'am."

"Don't call me ma'am. My name is Temari, Hinata. I'll be showing you to the secret headquarters. Take the gurney with you to the kitchen."

"It was t-third floor, correct?"

"Correct."

Hinata grabbed the gurney and was extremely shocked. The thing weighed at least a hundred pounds. She held her groan as she strained to pull the gurney behind her.

"Close the door," spoke the smooth, authoritarian voice from inside the room. "Oh, and Hinata? I'm reading Tsunade-sama's recommendation letter about you. I expect you to prove her statement."

"Yes, ma'am." Hinata pushed the gurney down the hall, determined to meet the Matriarch's expectations.

Once Hinata was gone, Temari turned back to the the Matriarch and raised her eyebrow. "Matriarch? A girl like _her_, applying for masseur?"

The Matriarch handed Temari the paper she had previously been writing on. Temari read the paper and nodded to herself. Then turning back to the woman, she answered, "I'll be absolutely sure that I won't let her pass the rankings if her problem persists."

* * *

"You are applying for masseur, but you take over five minutes just to bring a measly hundred-twenty pound body to the third floor. You should be faster!"

"I'm s-sorry, Temari-san."

"Don't be sorry, just be faster."

Hinata wiped sweat off her brow and followed Temari. They were finally on the kitchen floor.

Fortunately, there were several different paths of wherever Temari was heading. Unfortunately, all of those paths were blocked by many cooks and waiters. Yells of orders blocked out Hinata's timid "excuse me's." She ran over many toes with the gurney. She even bumped into the same huge man from before- and quickly ran away without reading whatever expression was on his face. She was pretty sure he would've been enraged and embarrassed, since the gurney had shoved his belly and sent vibrations of fat rippling across his body.

Hinata spotted Temari waving to her from a far corner. Hinata shoved the gurney and entered through the door that Temari held open for her.

"This is the secret headquarters," Temari announced. It was a large room with comfy-looking sofas lined up around a large television. Game consoles and microphones lay scattered on the floor. On the walls hung scrolls with beautiful pictures on them. Colorful ink spatters stained the warm orange walls, and several small clay sculptures hung from the ceiling. One whole wall of the room was a series of lofts and a shelf of books stood lonely against another wall. In one corner was a huge dog bed. Two doors were on yet another section of wall, and from what Hinata could see one of the doors led to a bathroom. The floor was littered with an innumerable amount of large pillows.

Temari led her across the jumble into the other door, which just led to a room with nothing but a lamp in the corner.

"Put the body in there."

Hooking her thumbs behind her violet ribbon sash, Temari announced, "This room is where you assemble this body together. When you are done putting it together, you will bring it back up to the Matriarch's office and perform whatever she tells you to. Now listen." She leaned towards Hinata, her dark green eyes smoldering. "I am the most elite leader out of all the leaders in this bathhouse. Even more elite than the Matriarch's daughter. The Matriarch was being kind to you up there. When she gets down to business, she wants a hundred and ten percent out of the regular workers. But you and me, she'll be expecting at least hundred-fifty percent. As for me, I'm expecting even more from you.

"It's now nearly eleven 'o' clock. I'll be telling you the rest tomorrow. Be in the secret headquarters -this messy room- at eight. Don't come dressed in the uniform." Temari left the room and Hinata heard the sudden brief jabble of orders and clanking pots before the door slammed again and the room was enveloped in silence. She leaned her head against the wall and sighed. So much to do, and plenty of time. Hinata couldn't wait till tomorrow morning to start her work. She would have a purpose in her life. Her father would be so pleased.

**

* * *

**

**Hello people! Here's the second chapter. I MIGHT update chapter three story on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday at around 7:00 and if not, then definitely on Saturday around 5:00. Well hope you enjoyed this chapter, reviews are definitely welcomed, enjoy, good night:D**

**(Saturday, Feb 23, 2008, 11:33 p.m.)**


	3. Duty

_**The Love Therapist  
**_Chapter Three

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Hey everyone! I got 12 reviews for the last chapter! WOOEEE:D Thanks to those who reviewed!

**Back Again.** Hi everyone. Sorry if this chapter wasn't too good. I had this massive stomachache at school this morning and they had to bring me to the office in a wheelchair because I couldn't move. I mean, what the hell? I wanted to go home, yes, but couldn't they have just let me lay on the floor for a minute to let the pain go away some? Whenever I moved the ache came back like BAM! Well anyway, I came home, I slept, I didn't eat, and I'm hungry, and I decided to write this, but I couldn't concentrate, and I have to go back to school today, and slap me if this chapter wasn't great. And if you can't tell I'm very grumpy so if I reply to some of your reviews sounding like an ass, I don't mean it for reals.

**Back again.** And now I'm in a good mood! Hope you enjoy the chapter:D See you at the bottom! (:

* * *

Hinata gasped when she saw the inside of the secret headquarters the next morning. Yesterday it had been reasonably clean; today the floor had disappeared under all the scattered objects and furniture.

She stood there, quite speechless. The door opened.

"Looks like this place's been bombed, huh?" A voice said.

She turned around. Temari emerged holding a container of colored sashes and a backpack. She read the expression on Hinata's face and smirked.

"The employees -especially the men- are pretty damn messy. You'll be cleaning it up later."

The blond woman waded through the pillows and walked upon a small raised platform which Hinata did not notice the previous night. Temari shoved all the objects off the platform with her foot and set her box upon the wooden floor.

"You got your uniform? Come here and choose a sash," Temari said. Hinata cautiously walked over to the box and looked inside. There were many pastel colored belts inside. She reached out her pale hand and grabbed a white sash.

"Now listen up. You must now test your memorizing skills, because what I'm going to say I'm not gonna repeat. First of all, you're obviously gonna have to remember the names of all the leaders and employees, the colors of their sashes, what they do, their personalities. If you make a good enough impression, they might be willing to give up their breaks to help you. It will help you a lot.

"Basic employees are the general cleaners but they do whatever they're told. But once they go up a certain rank, then they have certain duties to attend to. Gardeners, cooks, entertainers, and a whole bunch of other jobs are employed here. And speaking of ranks, you are currently at the lowest rank out of all the workers right now, the rank of gen." She grabbed the outfit from Hinata's hands and unfolded the dark blue cloth.

"This is our ordinary uniform. Art-based employees wear dark purple uniforms. Gardeners wear dark green. You choose your own uniquely-colored sash to go with the outfit, and as you go higher in rank you get a more vibrantly colored sash. If you worked hard enough to become a leader like me, then you get a black outfit and your sash will be made of silk. Also, jobs can be determined by sash color. For instance, a gardener will tend to have an earthy-colored sash, an entertainer will have a bold, bright sash..."

Hinata nodded. So the lowest rank was gen; it sounded similar to ninja ranking. Ranks and jobs were determined by ribbon color. Leader ranks received black uniforms, gardeners green, artists purple, others dark blue.

Temari shoved away the ribbon box and dragged her backpack onto her lap. She unzipped the bag and pulled out a bunch of hygiene goodies, a pair of socks, sandals and a pair of baggy capri's that matched the uniform.

"Socks inside, sandals outside. And the rest are for just-in-case situations. Like if you're too tired to go home then you can sleep here. You will most likely need to. Your job training is one of the most intense here out of all the other jobs."

"Will other people be sleeping here also? A-any other s-specific job that deems this?"

Hinata watched Temari's dark green eyes and smiled when they glimmered under the light. She put on a thoughtful expression.

"Hmm...Masseurs yes, aromatherapists yes, maids no, waiters no, entertainers depends, gardeners no, managers depends, geisha no, beauty workers no..."

All of a sudden, Temari's eyes were filled with excitement.

"Let's have you try on your new uniform, huh?"

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Hinata stared at herself in the bathroom mirror while Temari tied the sash around her waist. Much as she liked the outfit, Hinata disliked wearing anything that exposed much of her skin. The sash hugged her hips too much, the shorts were way too high, the leggings felt weird. Thankfully, the top was nice and loose. She had switched to the baggy capri's and surprisingly, Temari encouraged the idea.

"I like this," she complimented, nodding in approval. "I like your style. I've seen so many girls who believed that exposing their curves made them attractive but seriously, it just looked like they were going to burst."

The two women giggled.

"Now, you are in your full attire, and you are good to go!"

"What will we do?"

"We'll clean this room up. So you're ready?"

"Yes!"

"Absolutely, positively ready?"

"Yes!"

A glint appeared in Temari's eye.

"Welcome to hell."_  
_

**o o o o o o o o o o

* * *

**

It took over an hour just to clean the secret headquarters. After that, Temari had Hinata clean the whole second floor. Then it was time for laundry. Never did she had to wash, unload and fold so many clothes in one sitting. Luckily, Temari was also Ino's leader so they both suffered together.

"What's taking so long? Hurry UP! Your lunch break is after this! Hinata, you should be faster! Wait, where are you going? Wrong floor, wrong floor!" Temari stared down, leaning over and craning her neck from where she stood on one of the higher bridges overlooking the inside of the bathhouse. It was the best place to catch any employees not doing their work properly—"What're you doing?" she yelled. "Don't drag the tub against the floor, you'll scratch the wood!"

"Sorry, Temari-san!"

"Don't be sorry, just be stronger!"

Ino cringed. "Temari-san is so hardcore. I swear, Hinata, after about a month of this you'll be getting buff."

"Hinata, I said THAT'S THE WRONG FLOOR!"

"Ino-chan, what floor is the laundry machine at?"

"Ino, Hinata shouldn't be asking such elementary questions! Are you not informing her? You're not doing your duty!"

"Sorry, Temari-san!"

"Don't be sorry, just help her!"

"Okay, Hinata, the...laundry...machines are on the..._third...floor!_"

Ino and Hinata groaned as they lugged their second-to-last tub of wet towels over the stairs. Temari was already waiting for them, her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.

"Having a good exercise, Hinata?"

"Y-yes, ma'am!"

"You're doing okay so far. Come on. One more tub. "

Ino groaned. "Can't we use the elevator, Temari-san?"

"No. The harder you start, the stronger your result."

"But...but—"

"One more tub! After that it's your lunch break. Don't use the elevator. I'll take this for you, and Hinata will bring the last tub to the machines herself, no Ino involved." Temari easily snatched up the huge tub of wet towels and carried it to the machines with no trouble. Hinata could only stare as she saw the slim muscles of Temari's arm flex and make beautiful contours.

"Temari-san is so strong," she murmured.

"I'd rather stay feminine-looking and pretty than strong, masculine and muscular. That's for boys. Temari-san's like a man," Ino grumbled.

"_I heard that!_"

The girls giggled and headed downstairs for the last tub. When Hinata was done, Ino lead her to the kitchen, blabbering all the while.

"Lunchtime! Yay! Oh my goodness, Hina-chan, there's this favorite dish of mine here, I hope they serve it today, cause I just _know_ you'll love it too!" bubbled Ino as she grabbed Hinata's hand and pulled her into the kitchen.

"Hina-chan! To get your food, you go to that fat man over there. See him?"

Hinata followed Ino's finger to a familiar looking man. She gasped. It was the huge man she bumped into yesterday! She dd not want to face him.

"His name's Chouji. He's the head cook, and leader of the artistic employees. He's disgustingly huge, but he's real nice, and he makes the BEST food out of ALL Konoha! Oh yeah, I found out from Sakura-the previous masseur- that when you become masseur, you have days when you order what you want from Chouji! Isn't that awesome?"

They both approached the cook named Chouji. Hinata lowered her head and felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment. Hopefully Chouji didn't recognize her. Apparently he did.

"Hey, you're the new arrival!"

"H-Hello..."

"What is your name?"

"Chouji, this is Hinata!"

"Yes, I recognize that pretty name. Hello, Hinata. I think I saw you in here last night, with Temari-san?"

Crap. Hinata glanced up and met a friendly smile and eyes nearly hidden behind fat cheeks. She bowed her head again.

"Y-yes...I-I-I'm sorry about...about...bumping into you..."

Chouji burst out laughing. "Oh, don't worry about that! I can jiggle even when nothing is touching me! Want to see?"

"_No_ thank you, Chouji," Ino snapped, but she joined in laughing and Hinata couldn't help but smile.

"Now, Chouji, give us our food!"

"Yes'm."

Chouji held out two plates of food. Hinata looked up at Chouji again and gave a shy smile. She took her plate and headed out of the kitchen, planning to eat by herself among the tree branches.

"Hinata, WHERE are you going?"

Ino grabbed Hinata's sash and dragged her back into the kitchen. "Are you seriously planning to eat by yourself like a loner?"

"B-but I kind of like e-eating alo—"

"C'mon, we eat in the secret room, you should meet some of the other employees!"

Uhoh. The last thing on her list of abilities was to socialize competently with others her age. Oh, what she would have given to avoid attention and new faces. With a pounding heart and burning cheeks, she very reluctantly followed Ino to the door of the secret headquarters.

Behind the closed door there were many people's voices, some familiar, some not.

Voice 1: "_Be more specific, Shino! 'There's a newcomer' doesn't tell us anything useful!"_

Voice 2: "_She was Shino's kunoichi teammate."_

Voice 1: "_..."_

Voice 2: "_She's my cousin."_

Voice 3: "_Neji's cousin? Are her eyes the same?"_

Voice 1: "_HINATA? Hinata WORKS HERE NOW?"_

Voice 4: "_Who's Hinata? Is she pretty, hm?"_

Voice 5: _"Ino-chan said she could be attractive."_

Voice 1: "_HINATA-CHAN? WORKING HERE?"_

Voice 2: "_Stop overreacting, hamhead."_

Voice 6: "_Wasn't she that one girl with the ugly boy-cut and the squeaky voice?"_

Voice 7: "_Don't be harsh, Kankuro."_

Voice 8: "_I bet she's as hideous as Billboard-chan."_

Voice 5: "_Shut your mouth, Sai! Don't even talk about Billboard!"_

Voice 8: "_I deeply apologize."_

Ino threw open the door. "Hey guys! Princess Ino is here!"

"BOOOOO!"

"Hey, beautiful!"

"Ino-chan rules!"

"Ino sucks!"

"Shut up! I brought the newcomer!"

The room grew silent as eight pairs of eyes focused on the pale girl hiding behind Ino. Hinata cowered behind Ino's back but Ino grabbed her wrist and led her into the secret headquarters. She felt her face burn with embarrassment as the eyes continued to follow her. Her own eyes couldn't find a place to rest. She looked up when a hand extended towards her. She shook it weakly and blushed.

The hand belonged to a slightly tanned young man with long golden hair and one gray eye. The other was hidden behind his long bangs. He wore a clay-stained dark purple uniform with a red kanji pattern, a golden sash, and a mischievous smile.

"How's it goin'?," the man said, flashing a slight smile at her.

Someone snorted.

The man knelt by Hinata, his eyes slightly flirtatious. "Do you know how much polar bears weigh?"

Hinata shook her head.

"Enough to break the ice and hey, I'm Deidara, hm, what's your's?"

"You're LAME!" the whole room screamed. Huge pillows smacked into Deidara, promptly burying him.

"Hey! Stop! Hm!"

"You SUCK at icebreakers!"

"Don't you DARE say another one again!"

"I'm just asking her name, hm! Ow! Stop throwing those damn pillows!"

"Hinata!"

Hinata jerked at the familiar voices.

"Hinata!"

She turned to see two men crawling towards her. One of them was tan and blond, like Deidara, except he had shorter hair, blue eyes and whisker marks on his face. The other man was slim and muscular, with spiky brown hair and long red triangles on his cheeks. Hinata gasped.

"Naruto-kun! Kiba-kun!"

"YEEAAAAAHHHH, she remembers me!"

The two men grabbed Hinata and crashed into the sofa, hugging Hinata to themselves.

"I missed you!"

"You hair is so long!"

"We finally reunite!"

Another man wearing a green uniform appeared and stood in front of Hinata. "Hinata-chan."

"Shino-kun!" Hinata grinned but couldn't stand up due to the two men hugging her.

Temari growled and reached over to slap their shins.

"Get off her! Let her be introduced to everyone else!"

"She knows me!"

"I was her teammate!"

"Your eyes DO look just like Neji's, hm!"

"Of course." A man wearing a normal uniform tied with a gray sash went and sat down next to Hinata. "It is my duty to protect her so you better be careful around her."

"Neji-nii-san!"

Another man jumped next to Hinata with child-like enthusiasm. He was very strange looking with bushy eyebrows, pitch black eyes, shiny black hair, and a clean smile. He wore a regular uniform with a creamy green sash. "Hello!" the man cried. "I'm Rock! Rock Lee! Pleased to be meeting Neji's honored cousin for the very first time! Do you remember me?"

Hinata nodded shyly, smiling. "S-sometimes you and Neji-nii-san would spar together in the courtyard. A-and many times I brought a tray of snacks."

"Oh yes, I remember the tea and mochi, the delicious tea and mochi! Such lovely memories! I can tell we are going to be great friends!" Lee clenched his fist and his eyes glistened with excited tears.

Temari quickly nudged the bewildered Hinata to avert her attention from the crying Lee. "That big guy over there. A leader. Black and neon-blue sash. That's my brother, Kankuro."

Kankuro lifted one thick hand. "Ey."

"And I'm Deidara! Your eyes remind me of the mist of—"

"Hinata? Do you remember me?" Hinata looked at the source of voice, coming from a mousy girl with two buns on her head.

"Tenten-chan, hello! O-of course I remember, y-you had a lovely f-fighting style..."

Tenten blushed. "Tsh. It needs a lot of improving."

"Neji-nii-san talked h-highly of you at home, quite often," Hinata stated quietly.

"What? He _did_? What did he say? Please tell me—"

Yet another man walked up to Hinata and stretched out his hand. He wore the same outfit as Deidara, except his sash was blue gray. He was pale, skinny, and vaguely reminded Hinata of someone she saw before. "Greetings, I am Sai. You are quite hideous to my eyes." Sai smiled softly and knelt in front of Hinata. She was speechless.

Tenten nudged Sai with her elbow. "She doesn't understand your style of speaking."

Sai looked utterly confused.

Turning to Hinata, Tenten smiled warmly. "He means to say he thinks you are pretty."

Hinata blushed deeply. "I-I-I-but—"

"Okay, everyone!" Temari announced, saving Hinata from a response. "Lunch will be over in around thirty minutes. Eat and get back to work after you're done."

Internally thanking Temari, Hinata dug in her plate, contentedly listening to the chatter of her co-workers.

**All too soon**, lunch was over and the workers stood up. Hinata copied all their movements: placing the plates in a large sink in the kitchen, retying the sash, a look of eagerness coming upon their faces. She followed the workers till they were all grouped on the bridges around the massive tree trunk. Suddenly, they all split up and went their different directions.

Kankuro, Naruto and Deidara headed downstairs. Rock Lee, Tenten, Ino and Tsukimono headed to the left. Kiba headed up. Shino and Neji went right. Chouji remained the kitchen. Sai climbed directly onto an extended tree branch and disappeared.

"Come, Hinata," Temari called. "You're gonna be going with your cousin to the garden. Help them pick aloe."

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Hinata had to carry ten huge baskets of aloe and slice each plant up carefully.

"You keep doing that, Hinata," said Temari later. "I have to go somewhere. Some business to take care of."

Once Temari was gone, Deidara popped out from behind a paper screen. "Pst, Hinata!"

He leaped over to Hinata and eyed the huge pile of aloe. "Wow! This is so much! Do you need help, hm?"

"You're not allowed to help her," Neji intruded, dumping a basket of aloe onto the already-large pile.

"Why not!"

"Thank you very much, Deidara-san, but I must practice for this on my own..."

Deidara beamed, then frowned. "But why not? Unless you're training for one of the main jobs..."

"I...I'm training to be masseur here."

Deidara gapped, but before he could say anything Neji spun him around and pushed him towards the baths. "Go check the water, Deidara. I'll be doing chemical readings soon."

Sulking, Deidara headed to the baths. Hinata looked after him and sighed. Despite her claim, she desperately wanted help. Her arms throbbed terribly. Her thigh muscles quivered when she walked. A shiny layer of sweat lay on her forehead. Despite the hard day, she enjoyed it immensely. All she needed now was a shower and a good sleep.

"Hey, Hinata!" Naruto popped himself into the room where Hinata was working.

"Naruto-kun!"

"I got a message from the Matriarch for you to meet in her office."

**o o o o o o o o o o**

The door was open for Hinata when she reached the fifth floor. Matriarch's room was glowing with light; one whole wall of her room was a window, with rays from the sunset distorting everything. It made Hinata feel like sleeping more than ever.

Matriarch turned around and faced Hinata.

"Hello, Hinata. How was your first day?"

"T-there is so much to do. It's h-hard work but fun."

"Do you ache all over?"

"I-It hurts to move."

"Good. Temari gave me her report on your working today. You finished everything nicely. But she says you are a slow worker. Temari-san also states that you are a bit weak for her taste, or compared to any employee for that matter. I told her to do whatever she can to improve that." Matriarch formed a dark smile and tapped a finger on her desk.

"So, work will be extra hard. If you think today was hard, think about tomorrow! Hinata, the more you push yourself, the faster you will improve."

"Yes, Matriarch."

"I also called you up here to receive your assignment...on oils and their qualities..."

"Yes ma'am."

"Now, tell me what you observed about this place today."

* * *

Her head nodded once, twice, then she snapped to life. Again, once, twice, snap. Hinata yawned and looked at the clock. Eleven-thirty. She had been working on the body for around four hours, yet only completed one arm. Once, twice, three times, four. She wouldn't be waking up till someone made her.

* * *

**Hey! I'm so sorry I couldn't update Saturday...was forced outside past five...was gonna update at seven but had to go eat dinner at a restaurant...and couldn't update...grr. Anyway, I'll be mentioning Gaara in the next chapter! NEXT CHAPTER! ...**

**And tell me if the chapters are too long or something. I notice I'm writing extremely long chapters compared to other ones I used to write...I hope you enjoy this chapter, please review, thanks, goodnight!**

Saturday, 10:23 p.m. ):


	4. Bare

_**The Love Therapist  
**_Chapter Four

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Hey guys!

Just a notice to my reviewers who are asking about Gaara and Sasuke, I promise you they will come out soon (well...Gaara at least. Sasuke will be coming out later).

Tell you the truth, I really, REALLY want to be writing scenes with Hinata and Gaara. But I won't rush the story because...well, it's better that way. Sorta like waiting for the barbeque to cook perfectly. But don't worry. They'll be coming up. (:

**RE-EDIT** Dec, 16 2010 8:23 p.m.**  
**

* * *

Hinata jumped awake with a start, then groaned as her sore muscles raged with the sudden movement. Yawning and stretching, she glanced at the clock. It was seven-thirty. She groaned again as she grabbed the gurney and pulled herself to standing position.

Making her way into the bathroom next door, she stared at the mirror in horror. Her cheeks were patterned to match her sleeve and her hair was limp and excessively shiny. One eye's whites were pink and both nested over dark bags. The backpack Temari had given her was lying on the floor nearby. She unzipped the pockets and dug for the hygiene products. When she wiped her face dry with a towel and packed her toothbrush and toothpaste in the pack, a door slammed open and Temari's voice shouted through the wall.

"Hinata! Where are you when you have chores to do?" Footsteps made their way just outside the bathroom door. Hard knuckles rapped on the wood.

"Hinata, is that you? Come out and eat breakfast."

"Y-Yes, Temari-san."

Breakfast was a delicious thick meat porridge with sweet mochi cake. Then Temari led Hinata to the laundry room. She gestured to a row of baskets lined against the wall.

"Wash, dry, fold. I'll be coming to check in an hour. Have fun, sunshine."

Hinata winced as she lifted the first basket of clothes, barely able to keep her balance.

_This is going to be long," _she thought.

She did the job at a steady pace, trying not to think about the painful task before her. After half an hour, her sore muscles loosened up a bit.

Tenten shyly observed Hinata's progress at random intervals, but didn't offer to help. Hinata felt drained as she struggled to toss in the last set of clothes. She slammed the machine door and the basket toppled onto the floor. She let it lie there.

Suddenly Temari appeared out of nowhere and stood in front of Hinata, hands on her hips.

"You tired?"

Hinata nodded wearily. Temari smirked and clicked her tongue. "You'd better get used to it. You'll be tired for the next several days."

Hinata didn't respond. She felt too weary.

"Take a break for ten minutes. In fifteen minutes, meet me at the hot springs. You've got another task to learn."

"Yes, Temari-san." Temari walked away and Hinata slumped against the wall, rubbing her throbbing arms.

"Psst...Hinata-chan?"

Hinata looked up to see Tenten lowering herself next to her.

"So...I heard you really are applying for masseur..."

"Yes."

"Wow..." Tenten's brown eyes glimmered with admiration, then they showed pity. "Death workload?"

A weak nod from Hinata.

"I can help you with that..."

Hinata looked at her with gratitude. "Really?"

"I'm a beauty worker. I collect weapons and I'm currently teaching myself to wield spiked nin-chucks. That's it. Oh, and Ino, you know her. She's also a maid and beauty worker. And gardener. And she would choose shopping over food."

Tenten grinned and nervously scratched her head. "I hope that was of help to you..."

Hinata smiled and nodded her head. "T-Thank you very much, Tenten-san. You a-are also kind. I'll remember that." She got up and winced when her muscles throbbed, then made her way to the hot springs.

Tenten's grin widened and Neji stepped out from behind a wall where he had been eavesdropping.

"What have you been doing," he said, eyeing her critically.

She spun around and squealed. "Neeejjiii! Your cousin's so nice! I think I can become good friends with her! And she's gonna be a masseur. Yuuto Springs _MASSEUR_!"

"Hmm...fate actually gave her a reason to live. Miracle. Treat her nice, won't you."

"Don't be such a bastard, Neji. Wait...I bet you're just jealous, aren't you? You don't honestly—"

"Shut up for once."

Tenten giggled.

After two hours of learning chemical readings at the hot springs, Hinata had to weed the garden and plant seeds. After two hours of gardening, Hinata had to do cooking. After one hour of cooking, she had to tend to the plants in the bathhouse. After three hours of tending to the plants, she had to fix kimonos. After one hour of fixing kimonos, she had to scoop aloe gel into bottles and then deliver them to customers, who came milling in at around six in the evening. After one hour of delivering, Temari instructed her to go up to random customers and offer them a free massage. She was to stop only when she had been rejected three times. Three hours and thirty minutes later, she received her first rejection. Another hour later, the second rejection. Another half hour after that, third rejection. She was rejunvenized.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

**Two Weeks Later**

****Once again, it was nighttime. Hinata sighed and smiled to herself as she arranged all her papers on the body systems and her aromatherapy assignment above that, and dropping the last silicone muscle into the fake body, completing her fifth body exam.

The first week at Yuuto Springs was one of the hardest weeks Hinata had ever endured mentally and physically, yet she loved it. Not surprisingly, her muscles did grow stronger from Temari's intense training. Nearly everyday she learned a new task with a new person: maid work with Ino and Tenten; waitressing and entertaining with Kankuro, Lee and Naruto; gardening with Shino; chemical testing with Neji and Deidara; decorating and presentation arts with Chouji, Sai and occasionally Deidara; aromatherapy with Kiba. The only person who she didn't see more than twice was the boiler man and herb-mixer Shikamaru. He had much more work than the others but insisted that Hinata focus on her own work first.

She was taught that there was more than three secret employee headquarters in the bathhouse. She learned that the third laundry machine against the wall wasn't broken, but was actually a secret passageway for emergency situations. She definitely kept in check that it was _always_ Temari that would come to wake her up, and not the other way around. And the Matriarch, as attention-grabbing as her eyes and dark red kimono were, would appear out of nowhere spontaneously to question Hinata, sometimes taking her by so much surprise that she would jump.

It took a while, but Hinata had also grown somewhat close to the employees, particularly to Deidara, Tenten and Ino. Her future career as a professional masseur had partly contributed to her little friend base, but she was delighted to harbor a place in her heart to people who were actually interested in her. Well, except for Kankuro, and a little bit of Sai. Kankuro scared Hinata; he was so blunt, burly, and independent while she was nearly the opposite. He also happened to notice their differences and seemed to dislike her for it, regarding her just as someone who was so very insipid and boring, someone who he wouldn't waste his energy on caring about. He brought down what self-confidence she had.

As for Sai, Hinata had a hard time understanding him. Everything he said was the opposite of what he meant.

Every evening, she had to deal with the insecurity while learning to socialize with friends and random customers. It was the only thing that kept her mood from being a hundred ten percent, day after the next.

The next day, nearly three weeks after her arrival, Matriarch called Hinata to her office through her special gold cone.

"Hinata, bring the body and your paper to my office. Prepare to be tested on random subjects. If the employees have taught you well then you should answer them all correctly."

Hinata felt a huge pang of excitement and nervousness. At first, she had felt quite impatient to become a masseur; after the weeks of training, however, she grew to accept that she needed to learn so much more. But now, when she was just about to adjust to working as a maid...

She didn't have much trouble bringing the fake body upstairs to Matriarch's office. Temari's training had noticeably changed her strength. She was able to open the door to the office with three fingers and no help.

The Matriarch turned around and smiled her usual serene smile, her unique eyes seeming to glow as she took in Hinata's appearance.

"Hello, Hinata. Enough time has passed; I believe it is time for a real overview of what you've learned."

Hinata tried looking as confident as possible. "Yes ma'am."

Matriarch started a slow walk around her room. "What are the elements of the body and where do they affect?"

Hinata took a deep breath. "The five elements of the body are fire, water, earth, metal, and wood. Fire is associated with the heart, pericardium, and small intestine. Water is associated with the kidneys and bladder. Earth deals with the spleen and stomach, metal with the lungs and large intestine, and wood to the liver and gallbladder."

The Matriarch smiled and cocked her head. "Now, step over to the body. Perform the reflexology treatment that heals metabolism. After this I want you to tell me about Sai, Tenten and Temari."

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Hinata walked out of the office, wearing a silver sash and a shocked expression. After the testing, Hinata had boldly asked how much longer it would be till she went up a rank.

The Matriarch had replied, "Who said you would go up a rank?" She continued writing while Hinata stared at her, trying to understand her words.

"B-but...didn't I do e-enough to become a rank closer to being masseur?"

Matriarch had looked up from the paper she was reading to smile at Hinata. "Quite determined to begin your job, hm?" She got up from her desk and gazed out the window, contemplating for a moment.

"Just because I placed you in the lowest rank doesn't mean you have to go through all of them. That Temari...I admire her. She really trained you well. Out of all the employees I have, you have shown the most improvement physically and mentally in the shortest time of three weeks. It's amazing, especially considering someone of your personality and build...perhaps more of your character is hidden beneath layers of your shyness."

Then she had turned back, her eyes intense. "Hinata, I've been observing you for the past couple weeks, and I've noticed that you handle your workloads with no stress. I am confident that you can carry a much larger load and complete your tasks with grace."

"I would complete anything you assign me to the best of my ability, ma'am...I need more practice so I can...can be the best masseur..anyone...ever..." Hinata died down, her confidence crumbling as it always did.

The Matriarch walked to a section of her wall where a large picture hung. She pulled it aside to reveal a large cabinet with many different colored sashes hanging on hooks. She grabbed a bright, silvery sash and closed the picture.

"Hyuga Hinata. You are no longer the rank of gen. You are now a member of the Jou rank. Take off your sash."

The Matriarch tied the sash tightly around Hinata's waist and smiled.

"Now, get prepared for the next day. Oh, and Hinata? Stop losing your confidence; Tsunade-sama assigned you here for a reason. Even if someone treats you lowly, you should just ignore them and stay happy."

"Yes ma'am."

**o o o o o o o o o o**

And so here she was. Jou-rank. No Chuu rank to work through. Did that mean she had a certain amount of power over her friends still in the Chuu rank?

She closed the door and jumped when she noticed Temari standing right beside her. Temari smiled and squeezed Hinata's shoulder.

"Jou rank?"

Hinata nodded.

"Good job Hinata. It's rare to see anyone skip a rank. I mean, you're still not as strong as some others...but if they have shown double strength through the past three weeks, you have shown quadruple."

"No, Temari-san. W-without your help, I wouldn't have improved as I did," Hinata said, smiling gently.

Temari beamed.

"Get a good sleep tonight. Tomorrow, you'll be doing the hard tasks. In the morning, you will go to the...okay remember, at eight tomorrow morning, go to Shino and tell him you need the fortification blend. Then take what he gives you to Shikamaru's room. After you give that to him, go straight up to Kiba to ask for peppermint or pine tree scents. It helps."

"We're helping Shikamaru?"

"Bring the oils back to the boiler room, and do whatever Shikamaru tells you. And when he's done making the fortification blend, you will meet me at the hot springs at _four._"

"What will the oil—"

Temari grinned. "You'll see. Now go home. Be back here at eight."

* * *

The next morning, Hinata approached Shino and asked for the fortification blend. He gave her a look as she said this.

"Fortification blend?" Shino went outside and didn't come back for a while. When he did, he was holding a large pail full of different bugs of many sizes, shapes and colors. Hinata shrieked and jumped away. Now she knew why Shino had given her a look. Dead bugs.

"Well, you did ask for the fortification blend. Do not drop a single bug or it will go to waste. Now take it away." Shino stomped away and Hinata gingerly grasped the handle of the pail. She began lugging it towards the boiler room.

The boiler room was actually underground, leading away from the bathhouse and located around behind of the large waterfall in the main room. A path of the waterfall ran through the boiler room, entering a large furnace where steam was produced. The entrance to the boiler room was a small hole wedged between two large roots of the tree in the bathhouse, and from there was a dirt corridor and a knobbly stairway which led to the boiler room. Hinata carefully stepped down into the hole and slipped. She yelped as the bugs clattered in the bucket. She carefully slid down the hole, feet first, and began running through the corridor and down the stairs.

Shikamaru was there, grunting as he tried to pry a deer's antler from where it was speared through the floor. He spotted Hinata and frowned.

"Did someone send you down here to help me?"

"I...I came to give you...these bugs..."

Shikamaru gave up on the antler and took the bucket from Hinata. "Thanks. Now can you go fetch Ino and Naruto...no, not Naruto. Go fetch Sai and Ino and tell them to come down here. Oh, and can you do me a favor?"

"Fetch peppermint and pine tree scents from Kiba?"

Shikamaru smiled. "Yeah. Thanks a lot. Temari told you that, right? I knew it. Thanks anyway. Oh, and if you could find someone to help pull out this troublesome antler."

"Sure!"

Crawling up a very narrow set of stairs back to the surface, Hinata went up to the third floor to fetch Sai and Ino. Ino gladly ditched her scrubbing job to help Shikamaru. It was a bit harder with Sai. He refused to leave his painting, and when Hinata persisted, he sighed angrily and left.

Now time to go to Kiba. Hinata returned to the boiler room with the scents. She was so shocked she dropped the scents. Sai, Ino and Shikamaru were grinding the bugs, and it gave off a terrible stench that smelled like a mixture of rotting seaweed, fish and milk that made Hinata gag and her eyes drip.

"Hurry up and burn the scents," Ino wailed, tears streaming down her cheeks. Hinata noticed a scale with two small bowls and ran to pour in the oils. She grabbed a nearby match box, lit two matches and placed them beaneath the bowls. Immediately all four of them sighed with relief as the scent of peppermint and pine trees filled the air.

"Thanks for finally bringing the scents, Hideous," Sai said. He smiled, stood up and strode out of the room. "Well, I'm done. I'll be going back to my painting now..."

"Hinata! Come grind this with me—wait, is that a jou-rank sash?" Ino exclaimed. She frowned.

"Ino, fetch those herbs I told you to get," Shikamaru ordered. Ino looked at Hinata strangely. Then her happiness was regained immediately, though Hinata could spot small hints of jealousy in her eyes.

"I'm so happy for you, Hinata-san! You have to tell me your secret!" Ino ran out of the room, and Shikamaru sighed.

"Well, she's certainly a handful. Here, Hinata. I'll teach you how to grind the insects. And when Ino comes with the herbs, you'll slice them up into small pieces. Now can you go fetch fortifying solution from Chouji?"

Making the fortification blend took much, much longer than Hinata anticipated. It took two hours to slice everything perfectly, taking another two hours to soak in Chouji's fortifying solution. Then it was dried. During this time, Hinata had to keep chopping herbs and grinding bugs. She accidentally slivered her hand while cutting the herbs. Because of this, Shikamaru had to finish the mixture by himself because "It would hurt immensely if you get any of this on your cut."

"Why do you need to grind bugs into this mixture?" Hinata asked, horrified, as Shikamaru crushed another bug on the grinding stone.

"You can say these bugs are vitamins...in living form. They hold proteins and vitamins essential for your overall health," Shikamaru explained. "When you include them with the fortification blend and fortify a hot spring with the mixture, you can see the huge difference between someone who bathed in a fortified spring and someone who didn't. Your skin would be younger and glowing, clean but moisturized enough to keep it from becoming too dry. If you had a skin condition and you kept bathing in fortified water, the condition would go away completely within a week."

"Wow..."

"These bugs are specially bred here, thanks to Shino. He was the one who introduced this idea to Yuuto Springs; it is exclusive to here. No other bathhouse in the world will know how to do this."

He expertly chopped up whatever was left and took the disgusting mixture with him into the furnace. When he came back out, the sloppy discolored mixture was now a sandy white powder with an occasional bug's leg or two. Hinata was sent to Temari with two buckets of fortification blend.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Hinata found Temari standing in front of the hot springs, yelling at someone from behind a screen.

"Don't—DON'T you dare!"

"Why not? She's so—"

"That's _why_!"

"That doesn't make any—"

"It's responsibility, Deidara! Oh, hey Hinata." Temari straightened up. "Okay, Hinata. For the past eight hours you have been making the fortification blend. Today, you will be fortifying the water with—"

"Hinata-chaaan! Guess what! You're with me todaaayy, hm!" Deidara popped out from behind a screen, grinning and waving ravenously.

"Yeah. He'll teach you what to do. And Deidara, don't you dare remind her. She should practice responsibility for herself." Temari leaned forward to whisper in Hinata's ear. "And if he tries helping you, _reject_ _him_!"

She walked off. Deidara jumped in front of Hinata and handed her a pair of gloves. "Hinata-chan! Follow me and I'll teach you the fun job of fortifying the water, hm! Now in your bucket is a special formula thing that I call..._the Fortifier_. Hm! Did you have fun with Shikamaru while making it? As you probably saw, it's composed of bugs, herbs and solution. The bugs hold good vitamins, the herbs hold good smelling oils and moisturizers, and the solution carries special salts and minerals, hm.

"Now, raw blend is very harmful for you since it's very acidic. Something in some bug's guts in the mixture, hm. But if you dissolve it in a liquid, preferably with a harmless base in it, then it becomes perfectly safe, or up around that point, hm. There's certain methods you need to learn to fortify water correctly with this stuff, because just throwing it in the water's no good..."

"What happens if you throw it in?"

Deidara grabbed a handful of the stuff and tossed it into a nearby spring section. The mixture fizzed and bubbled for a moment and the water went milky-green, then a horrid rotten-egg smell began filling the section. Clouds of dense smoke billowed through the air and made Hinata gag. They were both blinded by the smoke.

"Now -cough!- just tossing the salt in won't work -cough!-, because you obviously learned -cough!- what -cough!- it gets like, hm! -cough!- You see the water -cough!- is perfectly harmless as of now -cough!- but this -cough!- gas is poisonous to your lungs -cough!- un! if you breathe it too long -cough!- you will burn your lungs -cough!-"

Deidara snickered. "You know, this smells like Naruto with gas!"

"That's not true! Naruto...N-Naruto-kun smells..." Hinata thought for a moment before blushing and lowering her head. "Actually, his gas smells a bit worse."

Deidara and Hinata both burst out laughing. They immediately stopped when a tiny, pigtailed head poked out from the fourth floor balcony and stared at the two.

Clearing his throat, Deidara led the way to another hot spring section. He approached the corner where flowering vines supporting the privacy screens bunched up. He chose the biggest flower and turned towards Hinata. "Now watch carefully, because if you do this wrong then you can ruin the flower, hm..."

He picked up a small amount of fortifier and held up the flower. He lifted one of the inner petals and poured the substance into the lip. Hinata gasped as she watched the flower produce a syrup. The syrup flowed down the mouth of the flower into its stem. From the way bottom of the spring, bubbles came up and popped leisurely at the surface. The water turned a clean fizzy sheen and a fresh sandalwood aroma drifted from the bubbles.

Hinata knelt at the edge of the spring, watching the bubbles and breathing in the musky scent.

"How does it do that?"

"Oh, this vine is a very rare one. Yuuto Hot Springs is one out of only three places in Japan where this vine flourishes, hm! It supports all the screens in this room and made itself a network underwater. And what's different about the roots underwater is that its extremely spongy and porous. Anyway, you saw that the vine produced a liquid and absorbed the mixture, hm. When you're using the vine to fortify the water, _don't get the liquid on your bare skin_. It will harm you badly, hm. The vine sends the salts and minerals throughout itself...neutralizing it and doing whatever it does...and when it extracts the results from the roots, it comes out all nice and clean and good for you, hm. Pretty damn AMAZING, HM? Now you try!"

Hinata walked over to another flower and shyly grabbed a handful of the sandy mixture. She imitated Deidara's actions to the best of her ability. The attempt failed miserably. Some of the blend spilled onto the floor and the flower petals drew themselves inward.

Deidara put a hand to his chin and groaned. "Oh, I forgot to tell you a whole bunch of stuff, hm... here, do it again. This time, you lift the bottom petal, the one with the golden fur on the lip. Don't choose randomly. Wrong petal. Bottom one. Now, pour it in...yes! No! The flower! Wait! Okay, that's right. Do it again." Hinata practiced on twenty hot springs before Deidara decided it was time for a break. "For good practice, you should fortify around fifty pools a day. Shikamaru usually makes a week's supply of blend so you shouldn't worry about—"

"_DEIDARA_!" Temari's sharp voice rang across the bathhouse. "The Matriarch just told me that a VIP guest is coming!_"_

"What the? Who? Why didn't they make a reservation beforehand?" Deidara yelled back.

"I don't know! Fortify the water quick! ...It's my brother!"

Deidara yelped. "Gaara-sama?" He spun around and snatched the bucket from Hinata. "Quick, Hinata! Let's both fortify the water quickly."

"Hello, Gaara-sama!" Ino's voice echoed from the entrance. "How nice of you to come here!"

"Who's Gaara-sama?"

"Temari and Kankuro's little brother! He's the Kazekage! Faster!" Deidara hissed.

"Temari's little brother is the _Kazekage?_"

"Come on, we're not supposed to look unprepared, ever! We might get in trouble otherwise! But no pressure! Hurry it up! Quick!"

Hinata panicked. She poured blend in one flower, ran, poured blend in another flower, ran, poured some in—

Some of the fortification blend sprinkled onto her injured hand.

"Ow!"

Yelping in pain, Hinata let go of the bucket and clutched her hand. It was one of the stupidest reflexes she'd done. The mixture spilled all over Deidara's feet, the floor, and into a nearby hot spring. The water began to bubble maliciously and the evil-smelling smoke rose from its murky green surface.

"Hinata! Oh effing damn!"

Hinata hurriedly tried scooping blend back into the bucket despite the terrible burning on her hand. Then she heard Deidara gasp. She looked up. Deidara had an uneven smile on his face.

"H-Hello, Kazekage-sama," he stuttered. "W-Welcome to Yuuto H-Hot Springs. We—me and Hinata—apologize for this great inconvenience that has found you today on March 22, year of the..."

"You mean, 'Hinata and I?'" A pair of lacquered bathhouse sandals clacked lightly against the floor as they approached Hinata.

Deidara nudged Hinata with his foot and she shot up, blushing and embarrassed. She made eye contact with the Kazekage. Shocking red hair and green eyes. It didn't seem to match, but at the same time it did. He looked familiar. He looked scary. He looked mean. He looked like he would crush her in a second if she didn't make any polite gesture...She bowed quickly to the Kazekage, forcing any judgmental thoughts out of her head.

"W-Welcome, K-K-Kazekage-s-sama!" Hinata's voice cracked and she scratched her face, unknowingly smearing fortifier on her face. Deidara winced.

Temari and the rest of the employees watched from a distance, their tummies squirming with dreadful anticipation.

"Oh my gosh, what did she do?" Tenten moaned.

"Stop...what...you're doing...Hinata..." Temari hissed through clenched teeth.

"Can't she ever talk without stuttering?" Kankuro groaned and covered his face with his hand.

"Oh, Hinata...no more," Ino wailed, clutching her cheeks.

Naruto came to Hinata's rescue! Unfortunately, he was a terrible actor. Fortunately, he helped Hinata get away with it.

"Hey, Hinata! What's up?" Naruto yelled. He ran to her side and placed his arm over her shoulder. "Haha, you got white stuff on your face!"

Then he pretended to just notice the huge mess on the floor.

"Wow, Hinata, what the hell did you do?"

Then he pretended to just notice Gaara.

"Oh! Gaara! W'sup, man? Sorry about this mess. Silly Hinata. She can be quite clumsy sometimes, haha. You got powder on your face too! Funny girl! Now, Hinata, go tend to your face." Naruto shoved Hinata into one of the hot spring sections and grinned sheepishly.

_I'm irritated already but I'll let it slip this once._ Gaara closed his eyes and sighed._ I better not see her again. _"Naruto. Where're my brother and sister?"

Temari and Kankuro walked over to their little brother.

"Hey Gaara, what're you doing here so early?" Kankuro asked. "You are supposed to be coming next week."

"Temari told me she was training a masseur. She said that she just knows this person is gonna be her most successful recruit.'"

Temari laughed nervously and scratched her head.

"Well, where are they?" Gaara said impatiently.

"Where is who?"

"Your successful little recruit."

"W-well, Gaara, she's sort of indisposed—"

"The journey from Suna was a hard one. And I want a massage. A good massage. Now."

Everyone froze. Temari struggled to keep the smile plastered on her face. Unbeknownst to Gaara, she did not want to admit, he had already met the recruit. The awkward, powdered recruit. The girl he definitely scorned, as Temari could read from his facial expression.

_Crap, he's in a really bad mood,_ Kankuro thought.

"Where is she, Temari." It now wasn't a question.

Temari took a step back and slowly drew her hand into the hot spring section where Hinata was in. She grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out. Hinata had removed most of the powder from her face, but was now left with a nasty, tomato-red rash that looked like a mistake on her pale cheek.

Gaara looked down upon her and snorted. "Don't tell me," he sneered. "This is just a—"

"Don't underestimate her Gaara, she has much more talent than her...her appearance gives her."

"She has powder smeared all over the floor and her face. That just shows that she's an incompetent—"

Temari hardened herself. "Stop it, Gaara. She's a hard and determined worker. Also, you came without any warning right when she, and everyone else, was in the middle of maintenance, so you have no right to judge her, mistakes or not!"

Kankuro stepped in and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Don't worry, Gaara." Kankuro glared at Hinata from the corner of his eye and spoke in a tone that was obviously posing a threat. "She'll give you the best of service."

Hinata resisted the urge to tremble.

"T-This way please, Kazekage-sama."

* * *

**Hello Everyone! Did you enjoy the nice loooong chapter I gave you? :D Gaara is finally in the picture. Hoo hoo hoo!**

**Well, hope you liked it. Please review, have fun, have a good spring break, see you later! :D**


	5. Cherry Bloom

_**The Love Therapist  
**_Chapter Five

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Hello everyone! Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter! They made me really happy! :D

And speaking of reviews, I'd like to thank **Domini-chan** for all the support she gave me on my stories. Thanks again, Domini! :'D I can't thank you enough.

* * *

Hinata felt her body go numb as she turned around and stumbled down the corridor with Kazekage Gaara trailing behind her. She had no idea where the massage rooms were. She could feel his glare boring into her back. The frightened stares from everyone else didn't help one bit.

Once the door to the guest's elevator closed, Hinata relaxed and instantly her mind began to run again. 'On my first day... Ino said something about the massage floor being next to the aromatherapy cells...that's Kiba's workstation...so it's on the fourth floor. Wait... I don't remember seeing anything but the aromatherapy section on that floor...crap...IS it the fourth floor?"

It was very awkward inside the elevator. There was nothing to do except nervously shuffle her feet and smooth out her clothes. They made eye contact and Hinata tried smiling. Gaara just looked away, his face unimpaired by her friendliness. She gave up and resumed fiddling with her shirt. The ride seemed to both drag forever and fly by.

All too soon and yet too slowly, the doors slid open to the fourth floor and Gaara immediately walked out, heading towards the new hallways without waiting for Hinata. She followed him quietly, feeling like a foolish dog. Gaara walked towards Kiba's cells, then suddenly took a left turn into a very narrow hallway that Hinata never noticed. He followed the hallway to a different door and held it open for Hinata. She went inside and swallowed her gasp.

Even as a masseur-in-training, Hinata had never before seen the actual massage room. Its magnificence was equivalent to that of the bathing room. She never imagined a room could be so exotic.

The ceilings held glowing lanterns hanging from strings. In the middle of the room was a raised platform with a large silk futon across it, standing above a steaming hot spring. A small set of stairs and a wooden walkway led to the platform. Stationed around the small island were flowering tree statues with water bubbling from their branches. Along the sides of the walls was a beautiful carved stone imitation of a hillside village, with painted roofs and landscape with light emanating from the windows. Large slabs of rock and plants decorated the rest of the room. Candles hung from the stems, and above the platform was a large chandelier with many small flames smoldering in burning incense. Despite the no-electricity rule, the room glowed bright as day.

Gaara shut the door behind him and waited. Hinata didn't realize he was waiting for her until she heard him sigh exasperatedly.

"You have no clue on what to do, I assume." He stomped towards her and she swept around, fear in her eyes.

But he only went to a pair of knobs on the wall. He adjusted one; the small flames flickered and dimmed. He adjusted another; the pool began to slowly bubble and steam began pouring out from beneath the platform. Then he turned and exited the room.

Hinata watched him leave. Shivering slightly, but feeling much less anxious, she smiled and eagerly walked down the stairs onto the wooden bridge, dipping her toes into the warm water. She examined the rivulets of water streaming from a nearby tree's branches. Approaching the silk futon, she bent to press a finger to the fabric. Soft and cushioned. This must be where the customer lay down to receive their massage.

Footsteps were heard and Hinata jerked herself back into position. Gaara emerged wearing a cotton robe. As he walked across the bridge over to the raised platform he stared at Hinata. By his slow and steady walking and the dark look on his face, he looked like a predator and she felt like prey.

He finally reached her. Hinata felt it was unfair having to look almost completely up at him. Wasn't her previous humiliation enough for one day? She was humbled.

"A-Are there any specific m-massage requests that K-Kazekage-sama m-may have?" Hinata stuttered.

"I want a hot stone massage on my back. Almond-scented oil. And an aromatherapy with jasmine candles." Gaara pointed to the hot spring. "Inside there are the hot stones. Dry them before using them."

Hinata bowed and fetched the stones. She ran to get the items while Gaara undressed his torso and settled himself on the silk futon.

The stones were carried in a towel and brought over to the platform. Slowly Hinata dripped some almond oil onto her hands and stared at the large, tense back in front of her. She gulped. _Well, this is it_, she thought. _The very thing I've been training over six years for. My life's purpose as of now. I can't afford to do anything wrong now. Too much ego lost...not that I had much anyway...  
_

Hinata activated her Byakugan. She spotted all the tightened muscles and quickly determined the pressure and direction in which to soothe the flesh.

Her skilled, pale hands gently rubbed the knots away, the oil soothing his stressed skin. Then one by one, hot stones were placed on the pressure points of Gaara's body. Hinata applied gentle pressure using two stones. Gaara sighed again; this time it was one of contentment. His eyes were closed and his body was looser. Nervous as she was, she was shocked at how well her hands responded to her brain's instructions. Her massaging didn't seem half bad.

When she sensed that his muscles were completely relaxed, she fetched jasmine-scented candles from Kiba's room, placed them in candle holders and lit them. Hinata was about to leave the room when Gaara called for her.

"Hey, rookie. Hand and foot massage."

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Hinata stared at the man before her. Drool threatened to drip from his mouth. Her eye twitched at the thought of mopping it up. Quiet, even breathing filled the room amidst the sounds of tinkling water. Though the Kazekage was very rude, she couldn't help but notice how good-looking he was. He seemed to be the same age as her, but at the same time, much older. And he really looked familiar. Did she see him somewhere before, perhaps during her kunoichi days? His green eyes suddenly popped open and Hinata swirled around, feeling blood rush to her face. She heard motion behind her and realized he sat up.

"Rookie...bring me a towel...in that door there..." he mumbled. He yawned and stretched his back.

Hinata bowed and hurried to get the towel. Her body went slightly numb as she handed him the towel. As she left the room, she hoped he wouldn't be a customer of hers again.

_Oh please no._

* * *

Temari paced around the lower floors impatiently, barking orders and smacking away a whining Deidara. Suddenly, Gaara was behind her.

"Temari. Where is the mistress?"

"Gaara, where'd you come from—here, I'll take you to the Matriarch's office."

"No. I'm going myself. Where is it?"

"The fifth floor."

Many pairs of eyes stuck on to the wind shadow as he headed upstairs to the danger zone. Kankuro trailed along behind him. Temari turned around again to see Hinata standing next to her, also staring at Gaara's retreating back.

"Hinata!" Deidara grabbed Hinata and hugged her to his chest. "You're finally back, out of the clutches of that terrifying guy! I was so worried, hm! But now, you're safe with me! Hm!"

Temari shoved off the blonde and grabbed Hinata's shoulders. "How was it? How did it go? Did he ask your name?"

Hinata shook her head. Deidara beamed. Temari's mouth dropped open. "What? So he just got a massage and left?"

"H-He didn't say much to me," she replied quietly.

"Look up there," Deidara said. He pointed up and whoever was in hearing distance also looked up. Matriarch and Gaara was walking out of the office and down the stairs. The Matriarch had a grave look on her face. She averted her eyes to Hinata's small figure and frowned even more.

Hinata gulped and Deidara placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Hinata-chan," Deidara said. "You didn't do anything bad enough for her to—"

"Shh!" Kiba came out behind them, one ear extended towards the frightening duo approaching them. He pushed against Hinata's shoulder, ever-so-discreetly forcing off Deidara's hand. "How can I hear what they're saying when you're..."

"You guys, down to the entrance. You too, Hinata. Everyone should bid the Kazekage a good farewell."

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Down at the entrance employees crowded around Hinata and tried to squeeze the story out of her, except for Deidara, who seemed to find the whole thing enhancing.

The lobby immediately grew quiet as two pairs of soft footsteps entered the room. The tension in the room spiked.

"We're all very grateful for your visit, Kazekage-sama," Matriarch said in her smooth voice. "Even if it was quite sudden." She put on a radiant smile and Hinata swore she could feel the swoons radiating from all the men. Gaara simply nodded, looking somewhat content.

Then the Kazekage turned and looked at Hinata. She bowed and nervously met his eyes. His gaze softened. "What is your name, recruit?"

"M-My name is Hinata, Kazekage-sama. Hyuga Hinata."

"I apologize for my surly temper earlier. Should I known what I would receive and I would've treated you with much higher respect. Thank you for the massage, Hyuga Hinata. I will reconsider coming back for a second one. Goodbye, everyone."

"Goodnight, Kazekage! Have a good sleep," the lobby chorused.

Everyone sighed with relief, smiling as they absorbed the good news. Deidara looked shocked. Matriarch pushed through the crowd and grabbed Hinata's wrist, her smile fading. "Hinata, you will be coming with me to my office. We need to have a long talk, don't we?"

Hinata felt a sense of dread overcoming her being. The crowd scattered off to avoid being in the path of the angry Matriarch.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

"You caused a _lot_ of tension today, Hinata." Matriarch slammed the door behind her and glided to her desk. "You're not even masseur yet, and you nearly cost us the service of the Kazekage!"

She placed her fingers on her temples. "You spilled fortifying blend all over the floor. That blend took all day to make, and the ingredients are expensive and hard to find! How did you even manage to spill it all?"

The Matriarch spied the cut on Hinata's hand and glared at her. "And being a ninja for fifteen years of your life as stated on your resume, you shouldn't have been so clumsy with a blade. You shouldn't even have been ABLE to cut yourself like that!"

Hinata cowered.

Calming down a bit, the Matriarch sighed and fell into her chair. She stared out the window. "As for the massage you gave to the Kazekage. He reported that you had no knowledge whatsoever of the massage room. He suspects you didn't even know _where_ it was."

Hinata bit her lip and looked down, feeling like an utter fool. Tears began to burn the backs of her eyes.

The woman averted her black and silver eyes to Hinata and her temper died down a little when she saw how downcast Hinata was. "But he also brought some good news. He said you've given him one of the best massages he's ever received. Even better than the last masseur -and she was a fully fledged medical ninja too, while you are not. What kind of massage did you give him?"

"I gave him a h-hot stone rub, a-a hand-and foot massage, a-and a jasmine-scented aromatherapy candle, ma'am."

"I see. Guess how much he paid for your services?"

"H-How much, ma'am?"

"Seven thousand yen!"

"Seventy thousand yen? But that's so much...!"

"That is actually a bit cheap compared to the price you'll be offering as a fully-fledged masseur, but it's an extremely large price for a rookie. And you were also giving out those same-level professional massages nightly for free, too; I'm starting to hear some demand of availability for this new masseur Yuuto Springs has in training."

Looking up, Hinata blinked, her tears gone from surprise.

The Matriarch smiled warmly at Hinata. "Despite today's misfortunes, you are extremely lucky to get a compliment from the Kazekage and a free pass from me. Meet me day after tomorrow at the hot springs, you will be performing a test on reflexology once more. Remember all the pressure points and what they affect on the body. Now leave. I have things to do."

Hinata bowed and left the room, closing the door softly behind her. Someone landed on her and she screamed.

"Don't worry, Hina-chan!" laughed a voice. "It's only us!"

"Ino-chan! Tenten!"

Ino giggled and squeezed Hinata. "Oh my gosh, guess what! Temari-san told us that—"

"Gaara told her he really, really, REALLY loved—"

"The massage you gave him and—"

"He wants you to do it again—"

"Really?" Hinata's eyes shone. "He really said it like that?"

Ino laughed as Tenten rolled her eyes. "Well he didn't SAY it like that but—"

"You two! Get back to work!" Kankuro called. The two girls scattered off to their respective places. "Hinata, the Matriarch's calling you back up. She forgot to tell you something." He stopped as he passed the pale woman. "Good job with the massage. But don't think you're completely off the hook. I'll be watching for any stupid mistakes."

"Y-Yes, Kankuro-s-san..."

**o o o o o o o o o o**

As a punishment for spilling fortifier, the Matriarch ordered all the employees to think up a day-long version of their own punishment for Hinata. She was not allowed to help with the water maintenance. So Deidara was forced to assign Hinata to a day of nothing but scrubbing floors. Neji assigned her to be Tenten's assistant. Tenten assigned her to be Neji's assistant but this ruled out the water maintenance rule as Neji worked only in water maintenance, so she ended up washing dishes instead. Kiba had her make candles. Temari and Shino made her cut aloe leaves and weeds growing in and around the bathhouse for two days. She was assigned three days of waitressing and laundry. Many of these punishments were actually beneficial, as she got to bond with her friends with one-on-one conversation. Sai even taught her about ink painting as he painted beautiful scenes on the walls:

"There's three styles to ink painting. Detailed, spontaneous, and a hybrid of those two. There's even this ink-spilling technique developed by a drunken artist named Wong Mo. He would get drunk and spill ink and smear it with hands and feet while laughing and chanting. Getting drunk has its quirks. Just thought you should know."

And all the while she continued to administer her free massages. She began to memorize frequent customers' faces as she made the usual nightly rounds.

**o o o o o o o o o o **

One day almost three weeks later, as Hinata was carrying a tub of laundry Temari approached her in the hall and grinned.

"Guess what, Hinata! My little brother Gaara is coming back. But good news! He is plans to visit Konoha once a month after this one-day visit!"

A hard fist clenched her innards. "H-He's c-coming back? M-M-Monthly?"

"Yes! If you do good again tonight, he would probably commute here each time he comes to Konoha! Which means business practice for you!"

"I-I..."

Temari cocked her head. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Hinata insisted. Her hands were sweaty.

"Tell me," coaxed Temari.

"It's...it's just...oh, nothing," Hinata mumbled. She didn't meet Temari's eyes.

"Does he scare you?"

"..."

"Gosh, Hinata, he's not THAT bad. He's so much better than he was before. And he can be a pretty nice guy if you get on his good side. No worries!"

"I-I don't think I'm close t-to his good side at all."

"You're talking nonsense. Well, gotta go. Be prepared for tonight!"

"Temari-san, wait!" Hinata put down the tub she was holding. "I...I was wondering when I would take my final test yet. For the masseur position. It has been nearly two months since I came, and nearly one month since I gave my services to your brother...and...er...I...may I have permission to speak to the Matriarch?"

"Permission not granted," Temari replied. "She is indisposed right now. Why don't you go and prepare the massage room before my brother comes? He'll be here in less than two hours."

"Okay."

* * *

"Hello, Gaara-sama, welcome again to Yuuto Hot Springs! What may I help you with today?"

"Hello. Where is Naruto?"

"HEY, Gaara! Heard you're only visiting for one day."

"Yup."

"What's up?"

"Ready to have a fun night."

"You don't look excited..."

"I want peppermint tea and a private medium bath."

"Dude, Gaara. You order me around as if I'm some sort of waiter or something. Not cool, man."

"You _are _a waiter."

"Naruto, just take him to the bath." Ino rolled her eyes as she rung a bell. An employee ran over, nodding at Ino as she received instructions to fetch the Kazekage some tea.

Hinata watched from above as Gaara walked through the bathhouse sections, receiving bows and greetings from both employees and customers. Even if he didn't call for her until two hours later, she felt the need to go greet him. Thinking of the last time they met, her gut bubbled with nervousness. He was so mean. She did not want to deal with him any longer than necessary but she knew a polite first impression was crucial to her success.

Gaara finished shaking hands with several individuals and turned around to follow Naruto to the bath. He spotted Hinata walking towards him.

"H-Hello, Kazekage-sama," she said quietly, bowing deeply. Gaara stared at her, his expression concentrated.

"You. Are Hyuga Hinata. Correct?"

"Yes, Kazekage-sama."

"I'd like a deep tissue massage in my bath room in an hour."

"O-of course."

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Hinata was extremely surprised to see most of the Gaara's friends in his bath with him. For unknown reasons, everyone in the spring still wore their clothes, except for Naruto. He, Kankuro, Kiba and Rock Lee were chatting animatedly to Gaara. The women and Chouji were preparing drinks and a meal, ignoring the bath behind them. Deidara, Sai and Neji were hard at work pouring fortification blend into the flowers. Deidara turned around and beamed when he spotted Hinata.

At the same moment Gaara caught sight of her. Immediately his face turned stoic and he turned to the others in his bath.

"Get out."

"What? But we've only—"

"Don't you want to hear my story about —"

"I said. Get. _Out_."

Everyone scrambled to get out of the room. Water poured from Lee, Kiba and Kankuro's clothes. Naruto slipped on the resulting puddles and accidentally dropped his towel, receiving many slaps and shrieks from the other employees. He tried yanking the towel off the floor to cover himself, but someone was standing on it! He jerked on the towel and Kiba flipped backwards, landing on Ino. Ino screamed and pushed him away, causing him to bump Kankuro, who bumped Deidara, who bumped Lee, who slipped and landed on Temari's chest. His nervous giggle was met with ten large knuckles to both his cheeks. No one was prepared for the bloody free-for-all brawl.

Gasping, Hinata tried to run - but it was too late. She was caught in the tumble. Someone bumped her into the spring. As if in slow motion, she saw the water coming to greet her face, with Gaara's shocked face right beneath! She was about to land on him! She screamed. Gaara grimaced and tried to catch her. _Splash_! Both resurfaced, coughing out water. They stared at each other in complete, utter shock; but there was no time to say anything because at that moment a waterfall of people debarked on their heads and pinned both underwater, all of them flung into the hot spring by the excited Kankuro.

Throughout the loud commotion, no one noticed a person scrambling up the stairs to the fifth floor...

**o o o o o o o o o o**

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," called the Matriarch.

No one entered.

"I said, come in."

The door creaked open. The Matriarch looked over her glasses to the cloaked person standing in the room.

"Be so kind as to remove your hood and show me who you are," the Matriarch said, the tone of annoyance increasing in her voice.

Her extraordinary eyes widened, then narrowed menacingly as she took in the face of the figure.

"Who do you think you are, sneaking like a thief into my bathhouse and showing your disgraced self to me? Get out!"

"M-Matriarch-sama, please..."

"Your services are no longer needed here. I already have all the precious employees I want, and _don't_ give me any reasons why I..."

"I changed, ma'am, I swear I did! And besides, my position couldn't have already been taken, I—"

"Oh, but it is! She's right down there next to Kazekage Gaara, giving him a massage!"

"W-What...w-who is it?"

"Hyuga Hinata is her name. She has surpassed you, she is all I need. Thank you very much. Now leave."

"H-Hyuga Hinata? It can't be! But Matriarch!"

The figure ran to the mistress and clutched her hand.

"Please. _Please_! Give me another chance! I'm about to get evicted and...!"

Matriarch averted her eyes into a dangerous glare.

"Then tell me why I should take you back in after all you did? Tell me why you've think you changed? Tell me how this is really about yourself and not about customers, Sakura?"

**

* * *

**

Hello everyone! Did you enjoy the chapter? I hope you're liking the story so far. Now that I've got a crystal clear idea of the plot, I'll try to update every one to two weeks. I was going to update yesterday but this online chat took my attention...(:

**Tootles.**


	6. Poison Ice

_**The Love Therapist  
**_Chapter Six

**o o o o o o o o o o o**

Sorry for the late update, lots have happened.

As for the last chapter, I was so happy to see how many more people favorite/alerted and reviewed my story :D thank you all so much! Today should be a week with little homework so the seventh chapter should be up by next week...if not, then soon enough (:

Once again, thanks for all your support! I hope you all like this chapter (:

* * *

Hinata quietly walked across the floor of her run-down apartment, looking at all the flaws of the room with longing. Her landlord had kicked her out once he discovered her new job, telling her not to be so cheap on herself. Hinata wasn't too sad because the place HAD been a complete dump. But she wasn't happy either, for this had been her home for the most important years of her life; it symbolized her first step of independence when she had almost begged to live out of home. Well, it didn't matter anyway. She was sure her father would take her back in until she found herself another apartment.

Dragging her fingers along the white-washed wall, she admired the way the powder seeped onto the floor with angelic delicacy. Then she walked out of the room and closed the door. She picked up her only suitcase of belongings and headed towards the Hyuga manor, looking back one last time wistfully.

Knock knock. Once. Twice. Three times. No one answered the door. Were they still sleeping? Hinata frowned and looked around for a place to hide her belongings. Currently it was the second most important thing in her life right now; the box contained old pictures of her family, friends, and teammates, as well as all her awards and diplomas. She knew the box would be safe in the Hyuga manor, but her father never tolerated anyone jumping over the wall entrance.

Hinata glanced at the sun and winced. It was nearly eight 'o' clock. She found a leafy bush to shove her luggage under, covered it with foliage, then ran towards town.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

The secret headquarters was in a huge flurry when Hinata entered. Everyone was whispering, gasping, expressions of shock on their faces. Once they noticed Hinata was in the room, they immediately quieted down and looked away.

"Uh...Time to go cook!" Chouji stammered. "Everyone else, why don't you go back to work too?"

" Yes, sir!"

The employees quickly filed out of the room. Hinata found Deidara and touched his arm.

"What's going on, Deidara-kun? Why is everyone being so weird?"

"I...uh...well..." Deidara looked extremely uncomfortable, glancing at the door, obviously wishing to get away. "Sorry, Hinata-chan, I need to go, hm!"

She had no more time to think when Temari sent her down to test the spring water with Neji. The rest of her day passed on a confused note, with employees giving her strange or worried looks. Even Deidara and Naruto weren't their usual cheerful selves.

Dinner that night was as somber as the grave. So somber, in fact, that Hinata left the secret headquarters to eat by herself on the tree branches. Being alone was more cheerful than being in a large room full of people who wouldn't say anything. It reminded her of home. The bathhouse opened and customers came. Hinata did her nightly task of giving out free massages and she noticed the usual numbers she gave out were half than the previous night's but was too dejected to care. The work passed by easy, quiet and uneventful, and Hinata left for her Hyuga manor, hoping her reunion with her long-seen father would cheer her up.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Hinata could see light between the cracks in the door. That was good; it meant someone was home. Now she just needed to look for her property. Hinata jogged to the bushes and searched for her luggage. Panic seized her as she brushed away foliage and found nothing but empty spots.

_Where did it go?_

A large rustle behind Hinata made her jump. She activated her Byakugan and cursed. Damn the stupid Hyuga who built this manor in the darkest part of the woods. Damn the man who decided to live in a place where his own technique wouldn't be effective.

_Or maybe, damn the foolish Hyuga girl who is too weak to even see through the shadows..._

Hinata's eyes widened and she stared at the pitch black. The shadows were suddenly illuminated as someone threw open the entrance doors, the lights of the house shining behind them.

"Who's there?" A deep voice erupted. The silhouette stepped closer. "Hinata? Is that you?"

"F-Father?"

The figure stepped closer. "What are you doing here?"

"I..."

Hiashi gestured. "Come inside. It's dangerous out here."

**o o o o o o o o o o**

As Hinata hoped, Hiashi was pleased by her recent success. "My mistress told me that because of my performance, I would start my massage therapy very soon!"

Hiashi smiled and nodded again. "That's very good, Hinata. But what if there is someone in your path?"

"Someone in my path? I'm the only employee who's training for masseur right now. But once I begin my massage therapy, I'll make sure no one takes...takes my...my throne!" She smiled, feeling somewhat like Ino. It seemed that working at the Yuuto bathhouse was changing the way she spoke. Hinata looked at the clock and yawned. Ten 'o' clock, her bedtime. She smiled and raised herself out of her seat.

"Well, I will be going to sleep. Goodnight, Father." She headed towards the stairs to her room.

"Hold on, where are you going?"

Hinata turned around to see her father's eyes narrowed darkly. She froze.

"W-What's wrong, Father? I'm just going up to my room."

"Going up to your room? _Your room_?" Hiashi was by Hinata's side in a flash.

"Hinata, I am truly glad for all your luck in the past few months, but I'm tired of hearing you make false promises to me, and break them! When you DO become a masseur, then I will permit you to stay here in the manor. But you're not a masseur. You're still nothing but a normal, everyday worker at some high-class bathhouse! I can't completely trust that you'll make it to your goal until you actually do. You've proved me wrong too many times already."

Hinata gulped and blinked back her tears. "D-Do you really believe that I-I only got through b-because of luck, F-Father?"

Hiashi turned his back on his daughter. "You should start going home now," he said.

"B-But I don't have anywhere to go to now...my landlord kicked me o-out a-and..."

"Well then, that's just too bad for you, isn't it?" Hiashi coldly replied.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Hinata sat in the front garden of the Yuuto Bathhouse, staring into the pond water. The bathhouse was closed and she didn't have enough money with her for a hotel. As for spending the night with her friends, she had no idea where any of them lived.

She laid herself down on the spongy moss and closed her eyes. She would try to sleep. The ground wasn't too uncomfortable.

Though it was almost summer, the nights still became chilly. And Hinata couldn't sleep if it was cold. Curses! For some reason, sleep always managed to get rid of Hinata's worries from the previous day. And she desperately wanted to get rid of her and her father's encounter. She huddled herself into a ball against a tree trunk and closed her eyes. Maybe if she pretended she was warm, she would sleep and forget everything...

Five minutes later, she woke up. Her lavender eyes opened slowly. A gut feeling told her she was being watched. Sitting up and glancing around, she saw nothing. Sighing, she brought her legs to her chest and laid her chin on her knee. Involuntarily, a flood of questions erupted through her brain; how was it that her father fully gave up on her? What promises did she ever break, or to be more clear, make? How could that man be so unforgiving towards her? She made promises to herself, but not Hiashi, unless he was at some point holding high expectations of her...and where had her possessions gone? There was nothing of interest to another person in there that she could think of. And why was everyone so sad today? Did she do something? The Matriarch?

"Hyuga Hinata."

Hinata jerked her head to the voice and jumped. The Kazekage Gaara was standing at the entrance of the garden, watching her from the corner of his eye.

"What are you doing out so late?"

Hinata opened her mouth, gulped, and then shut it. She was not one to tell people about her personal problems, so silence answered for her. Gaara turned his head and faced her.

"Only a fool would be out this late, making herself vulnerable to those of the night. Don't you have anywhere to stay?"

Hinata stared at Gaara, feeling a small bubble of irritation towards him. _What are YOU doing here,_ she thought. _It's been only one week since you went back to Suna. You're not supposed to be here till three weeks later. And what do you mean, "vulnerable to those of the night"? People like you?_

Her body immediately tensed up when Gaara walked towards her.

"Well?"

"I don't have anywhere to stay. A-anymore."

"Oh. Did something happen?"

"I was kicked out by my landlord. He found about my imminent job."

"Ah. Well. In that case, you can—"

"I-I'm not staying with you, if that's w-what you're asking...Kazekage-sama."

Gaara frowned. "Not _with _me. I bought a hotel room for one of my subordinates, but he's staying elsewhere. And the hotel manager isn't allowing me a refund, so it would just be a waste of money if no one used it. But you need a place to stay."

Hinata looked up at Gaara. She narrowed her large eyes and put on her most serious expression. "How do I know you aren't...lying?"

"I don't lie."

"Or if you're just trying to...trying to m-m-manipulate me?" She winced.

"I don't manipulate."

Hinata carefully observed the night around her. The weeping willows looked eerie in the dim lantern light. The silence of the area was unnerving. It was a black night, with no moon and no stars. She stared up at Gaara again, reading his expression. Not that there was much to read. But there was no hint of a lie on his features. Hinata slowly stood up.

"Are you really willing to l-lend me a hotel room?"

Gaara nodded. Hinata cautiously walked to his side.

"Now be on your guard. There's bound to be a kidnapper on a night like this. And I do not want to cause anymore deaths." Hinata gulped and couldn't choose between edging away from Gaara or nearing him. They began walking away from the dimly glowing lanterns of the garden into the dark, silent night.

"K-Kazekage-sama? What were you doing out so late tonight...?"

He didn't say anything for a minute. "Watching out for corrupt-minded people who might cause harm. And looking for people who needs escorting home, safely."

"Escorting?"

"I cannot tolerate men harming the women and children of their own village...even if it's not my village. It sickens me."

Gaara grabbed Hinata's elbow and began heading towards an alley, a doorway of inky blackness. Hinata tried holding back, but his grip was too strong.

"What are you doing, Gaara-sama?" she hissed. "Alleys are the best places to find bad—"

With an enormous shock, Hinata just noticed the coated man following behind them. This man had an extremely straight posture and his footsteps were quiet clacks against the pavement, someone who wasn't drunk but was definitely following the two with some given purpose. Her other hand slowly clutched Gaara's arm, her heart gearing up.

Suddenly a loud belch sounded, then a shatter of glass. Jumping, Hinata swiveled. It was a different man, a drunken, fat one.

"G...Guh...Hyuga girl..." the man mumbled loudly.

"Don't look at him," Gaara muttered.

Hinata and Gaara walked into another alley. Hinata activated her Byakugan and tried doing three-hundred-sixty degrees of vision. The man was still following them.

"Guh..."

Hinata impulsively squeezed Gaara's arm even tighter.

"Hyu...guh...Hyuu...ggaaaa..."

Gaara frowned to himself. _This guy is being a persistent bastard_.

He stared behind him, mustering a dark glare so malicious that the drunken man paused for a second, contemplating. Then he resumed his wobbly walking. His pace quickened.

"Hyuga. Hyuga. Hyuga!" The man began a drunken slurred chant.

_Can't kill anyone who isn't a criminal_, Gaara thought, growling under his breath.

"Hyuga. Hyuga! HYUGA!" Heavy footsteps quickly turned into a loud, running series of thumps.

"HYUGA! HYUGAAA!"

"Gaara-sama...!"

_Clack-Clack-Clack-CLACK—_

There was a slash, a loud shriek, a collision. Sand immediately surrounded Hinata and she felt herself being raised high into the air. They landed on a rooftop three houses away. Gaara wrapped an arm around Hinata's waist and began running across the houses, cold wind burning in their faces. Hinata looked back at the alley they were previously in. She gasped.

The fat man was on the floor. A kunai was embedded into his neck, a puddle of blood forming on the ground. Hinata saw the straight figure standing just a few feet from the body, staring in their direction.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Gaara didn't stop running until they reached the hotel. He jumped directly onto the window ledge and pushed open the window, making Hinata enter first before going inside himself. He clicked the deadbolt on the window. Hinata sat on the bed, still recovering from the terror of being followed by two men. Her ragged breath calmed and her pulse slowed.

"T-Thank you, Gaara-sama," she squeaked. Her voice was dry and it hurt to talk.

"You're welcome." He snuffed, then added, "Glad that you agreed to come along?"

Hinata nodded gratefully.

"Who've known what that kind of bastard would have done to you, if I didn't happen to stroll by the bathhouse..."

She gulped. "W-Why were you at the bathhouse? It's so far away from this hotel..."

"I was escorting a waitress home. She works around where Yuuto is." After a while he added, "Your room is next door."

It was quiet for a minute. Hinata chose her next words carefully. "You are v-very kind to be d-doing this. N-Not just for me, but with e-everyone else. I ought to pay you back, for escorting and lending me this room. But I...I have n-nothing to offer, but a massage. I-I'm very s-sorry_—_"

Gaara turned his head sharply. "Escorting a woman home and protecting her shouldn't be a _favor _in which a man must get something back in return," he nearly hissed. "Any competent man would know that. It should be a rule. That way, everyone stays more safe."

He turned around and began undoing the clasps on his vest. "But," he muttered, a look of contemplation on his face. "I'd like a massage, if you don't mind..."

"Of course."

He threw the vest into the corner he sat on an ottoman. Standing behind him, Hinata placed her hands on his shoulders and began kneading his muscles. She noticed he had strong shoulders and a sturdy back. Probably because he had to carry that huge gourd around. Suddenly she remembered it. She remembered seeing him at a much younger age. They were ninja children taking their exams. A limp arm extended out and she slowly massaged that too, working her way down to his hands.

"Gaara-sama?"

"Hn?"

"D-did you happen to take Chuunin exams h-here in Konoha a number of years ago? Fighting against Rock Lee? A-And my cousin?"

"Hyuga Neji?"

"Yes."

"And he was fighting a girl in the first rounds."

"Yes."

"That...was you?"

Hinata averted her eyes shamefully. His eye closed again.

"It wasn't a bad fight."

His hand was surprisingly soft and Hinata lingered there a bit longer than a hand massage allowed, but he didn't mind at all. He seemed nicer then the last time they met. Then she froze.

The last time they met...didn't she land on him in the hot spring? And then both of them were pinned in the water by everyone who was shoved into the bath? After that, everyone had returned to their posts invigorated and sopping wet and laughing. The Matriarch had later come down to confront them all but after looking at their soaked faces, her mouth twitched and she had genuinely smiled. Then miraculously, she allowed the employees to have a party, at their own expense. Hinata never got to give Gaara that massage but she had apologized to him for landing on his head and he seemed amused. She couldn't contain sniffles of laughter as she recalled that day.

After her small outburst she realized Gaara was watching her with some interest. Her face began to burn as she subtly tried to continue massaging his hand. She bent her head so that several strands of hair would make just a small shield against his intimidating gaze.

Within several minutes, Gaara began nodding. His posture slackened and with enough time, he slumped over on his side on the bed. He opened a small fraction of his eye and stared at Hinata.

"Hyuga-san." he mumbled. "When it's dangerous, always have someone trustworthy to come with you."

Black lids appeared over his green irises once more.

Hinata stood up and watched him sleep for a moment. She observed the black eyelids, blood-red hair and pale skin and wondered how the stalker could have resisted a face so fierce. She opened the door to her hotel room, turned on the light, and returned to Gaara's room. She watched his face a bit longer before turning off his light, then turned and closed the door.

* * *

Hinata's eyes popped open and she winced, the morning light shining into her eyes. She slowly got up, stretched, and looked at the clock. Seven fifty. ..._Seven fifty?_

"Crap!" Hinata jumped out of bed and threw open the door to Gaara's room. He wasn't there, but an extra room key was on the dresser. Grabbing it she, ran out of the hotel and through the streets to the Yuuto Hot Springs Resort. She avoided yesterday's paths and took new ones.

The morning was beautiful and Hinata began humming to herself, smiling at the rising sun. The weather always had a large impact on her mood.

However, that mood was shattered when she reached the Yuuto bathhouse. The atmosphere was still gloomier than ever, and the work was non-stimulating and too easy.

When it was lunchtime, Hinata went again to eat lunch by herself once more among the branches. She didn't realize Deidara was following her until she turned around on the huge branch and saw his large grin, couple inches from her face. She jumped.

"Ack! Dei-kun! You scared me."

Deidara sniggered and flashed his radiant grin. "Hullo, Hinata-chan!" He climbed up onto the branch, settling himself next to her. "Mind if I eat lunch with you?"

Hinata smiled and shook her head no, happy to see that at least one other person had a hint of cheer today. Deidara's smile grew and he wiggled himself closer. They ate their lunch together with small talk, watching the small maze of other employees beneath them do their work.

"Deidara?"

The blonde perked up and smiled. "Hmm?"

Hinata nervously poked the bark of the tree and looked down. "Can...can you walk me somewhere later tonight? O-or maybe f-for a couple more nights. I-it's cause...I just don't really feel comfortable walking alone at night and..."

"Sure, hm! I wouldn't be surprised if you already have assholes I need to beat up, with you being so pretty and all, hm..."

Hinata cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Uhh—NOTHING, HM! Well I'll see you later then. Gotta do laundry, hm!" Deidara jumped off the branch and ran away, childishly hiding the blush saturating his cheeks with his hair.

Lucky for Hinata, no one followed her or Deidara that night.

* * *

The bathhouse never opened before the hours of dusk. So the person Rock Lee was talking to was definitely not a customer. Hinata couldn't see the person's face since they were leaning over. Then she heard the voice. She saw the face. Electricity and ice consumed her.

A pair of all-too-familiar green eyes framed by unnatural pink hair met shocked, translucent lavender ones.

Sakura and Hinata stared at each other from across the baths. Hinata had an uneven feeling. It was the kind of feeling that if she made a friendly gesture to Sakura, the friendship would be reconciled; if not, then their relationship would be taken to the thorns. Hinata did nothing. Sakura did nothing. In the moment that they turned away from each other, intense discomfort flowered up within her. She wanted Sakura to leave immediately, without actually knowing why. Perhaps it was the threat she felt.

"W_hat if someone's in your path?"_

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Later that night as Deidara walked Hinata again to the hotel, still no one followed her. Nevertheless she still stood by his arm, terrified of having someone even lay eyes on her. As they were nearing the hotel, Hinata suddenly had a thought. She turned to Deidara.

"Deidara-kun? I have a question. Why was Sakura-san here this morning...?"

She watched the smile drain from Deidara's face and a frown appear in its place. The discomfort resurfaced.

"So you know her too, hm?" He muttered. Hinata gulped and tried to cheer up the suddenly heavy mood.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, Dei-kun. It's understandable if she brings up any...sad memories," she nervously added.

Deidara did a surprising thing. He grabbed Hinata's hand tightly, so hard that she slightly winced. Her eyes widened.

"Deidara, what are you—?"

"Hinata. I would tell you but it is late. I will tell you all I know tomorrow...no one is sure of what's going on, hm. But promise me this one thing. In the following weeks, no matter how much trouble you may get in, be a strong and mature person. And promise me you won't tell a single lie."

"Dei—"

"Promise me!"

Deidara's eyes, normally soft and friendly, were hard concrete irises boring into Hinata's pupils. She was scared.

"I-I promise?"

The blonde relaxed a little, then loosened his hold on her hand. "No one knows what the Matriarch was thinking, but she rehired Sakura. And Sakura has quite a history at the Yuuto Hot Springs, _hm_."

Hinata nodded. Her thought was confirmed. No wonder everyone was so gloomy and her work so easy for the past few days. It was because Sakura came.

"Will-will you tell me everything tomorrow then?"

"You'll see tomorrow."

Hinata nodded. Deidara took a couple steps backward into the darkness, before turning around and smiling at the woman.

"Promise to keep your promise?"

Hinata gulped.

_...I'm tired of hearing you make false promises, then break them!..._

"I promise."

The man smiled. "Okay, then. Meet me in the secret headquarters tomorrow, and let's ask Temari to do a task together. I'll tell you about it then."

Gaara wasn't in the hotel that night. However, there was a note.

'Your room reservation has ten more days. Thanks for yesterday's massage. I'll see you in the space of a week.'

She wondered if he was out escorting more people around the town. She suspected that despite his rude first impression he imposed on her, he was really a gentleman.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

The next day, Deidara and Hinata took a task together, fixing ripped kimono hems. It was beyond Temari why Deidara would sew when he hated it, but she gave him the task and ran off.

The two of them locked themselves in a closet, whispering amidst the sounds of needles clicking against thimbles.

"Everyone knows that Sakura did something bad, but only me, Temari, Shikamaru and Kankuro _really_ knows what happened. I'll tell you from the start, hm. Sakura—let's call her Watermelon, hm? Well, Watermelon came here to work three years ago. The Matriarch loved her, everyone loved her, hm. She was everything everyone wanted to be and extremely good at medical therapy. So when Sakura—Watermelon, became masseur, the Matriarch allowed her to make her own prices for different types of massages, including this one special thing called...I don't know what it's called. Some sort of special service?"

"Special service? Will I have to do that too?"

"I don't know. But I know it's expensive and an intimate form of massage. Anyway, she was so popular she made up like one-fourth the bathhouse's earnings, hm. But soon, Watermelon started doing medical healing in her work. But nurses at the hospitals began to complain since their work was taken from them and both the hospitals and the Matriarch weren't getting any money from this free healing, while Watermelon got the extra tips. When the Matriarch scolded Watermelon, the healing stopped and hospitals had business again, hm."

"Shouldn't she have just become a nurse?"

"That's what everyone else thought. But Watermelon wasn't happy, so she became rebellious, hm. She broke some rules. She lowered the price for her special service, something that the Matriarch really can't do much about. For some reason it's mostly men that enjoy this service. And also, only women came when the previous male masseur offered this service. And since its pretty expensive, only rich people can do it, hm. And they usually come back. And Sakura attracted a fair number of men. So to put it short..."

"Wait, Deidara. What's special service?"

"Um. Based on what I heard," here he blushed somewhat, "It's supposedly a more ...intimate and open form of massage, and it's mostly conducted between two people who are very close to each other. People who don't know the masseur don't usually request this service, and the masseur does not perform it on people she doesn't know. But there are rare cases when these random requests happen. It would be something uncomfortable though. Watermelon didn't tell me much. But she did say the Matriarch required it for every masseur...who comes here to work...to do it...just for the...extra money, perhaps..." He seemed perturbed. Then he shrugged.

"But only Sakura knows. She was the only one who got in trouble because of it."

Hinata furrowed her brow. "And you said only rich men could do it?"

Deidara nodded, and stared Hinata deep in the eye. She gasped.

"You don't mean...she...!"

The blonde leaned closer to Hinata, his lips at her ear. "She made a relationship with all of them. Men of great influence, hm. And—"

"And did she...try to...do something?"

Deidara nodded solemnly. "Tried to steal their chakra. One she attempted while seducing him like a whore. He stormed out of the bathhouse right then and there, hm!"

Wait. That wasn't quite what she expected. "Stealing chakra?"

"Well, that's what I heard."

"Sakura-san...But she seems so much like someone who wouldn't do that. How did you find out? And who was it?"

"Well actually...the Matriarch found out. That man went up to her and threw a manfit, hm. Temari was there when it happened. But she doesn't tell anyone anything, except her brother or Shikamaru, hm. She only tells you things if you're unconscious from her knuckle. But I think that she was told to fire Watermelon, and for a Yuuto Springs high-ranker to be fired...well it gives you a bit of bad reputation around here, hm."

Hinata gulped, thinking of the first time she had to formally give her service to Gaara.

"Temari was the only one able to fish the story out of the Matriarch, and I guess she told Shikamaru, and Shikamaru told everyone else the story with no details, and I sort of..._accidentally _overheard everything that happened, hm. As for the guy, no one saw or knew him." He smirked. "Some famous man of influence, hm! And remember, I _accidentally overheard_..."

Hinata giggled. "Accidentally overheard? Like I'll believe that."

"No, really! I—"

A pounding came on the door. Kankuro's voice boomed through the wood.

"HINATA! DEIDARA! WHAT THE _HELL_ ARE YOU TWO DOING IN THERE?"

"We're SEWING! What ELSE?" Deidara shouted back.

"UNLOCK the door right NOW!"

Deidara rolled his eyes and unlocked the cabinet door. Kankuro stuck his head into the closet and his dark eyes stared suspiciously at the two. Hinata and Deidara both stared back at him innocently. No wrong done. Kankuro made a nasty face and stepped back from the doorway.

"Get out," he snarled. The two of them scrambled off the pile of kimonos and jumped onto the smooth wooden floor.

"Go fortify the pools with Sakura, both of you," Kankuro commanded. Hinata felt a sharp pang of fear and revulsion at the name. Deidara had the same reaction, except without the fear.

"That's an utterly troublesome burden, but may all your orders be obeyed, sir," Deidara sarcastically bowed.

"Stop acting immature! Get out of my sight!" Snarling, Kankuro turned and stormed down the hall while muttering curses to himself.

"Why is he so mad?" Hinata panted, running down the hall with Deidara.

"He was Watermelon's leader when she worked here. He always kind of hated her. I guess he has her again." Deidara sniggered evilly.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

At the pools, Deidara sent Hinata to fetch more fortification blend for the baths. It was then that her first incident out of many happened. Hinata balanced three buckets of mix and handed one to Deidara, left the second bucket by the baths, and searched for Sakura to give her the third bucket. She entered the hall of the private baths to search for he pink haired girl. She spotted Sakura. Sakura was staring at something inside one of the baths. Hinata took a breath, then walked over and bravely shoved the bucket into Sakura's hand without saying anything. Sakura yelped and jerked away, immensely shocked. A wooden collision and a loud clatter - suddenly a large blotch of powdery white blanketed the wood.

From inside a private bath, Shikamaru swiveled around, dropping Temari's hand. He made eye contact with Hinata and Sakura and his eyes widened in fear.

Gasping, Sakura turned to run away from the mess. She slipped on the wood and fell backwards into the powder.

"Sakura, get out of that," Hinata cried. She ran over to help her up.

"Quick, scoop this up," she ordered Sakura as she began scooping large handfuls of blend into the bucket. But Sakura remained frozen on the floor, her eyes still stuck towards the private bath.

"What was that commotion?" a frosty voice called across the room. Hinata began working faster. The Matriarch was coming this way! Why of all times and places...! Deidara poked his head out from behind a screen, not looking as surprised as Hinata expected.

"I said, what was that commotion?" The voice was nearer. Jumping up, Sakura stepped back from the mess, eyeing the direction of the approaching footsteps with terror. Hinata looked at Deidara in desperation. He just gave her a knowing look.

"Sakura. Hinata?" The Matriarch stepped into the opening in her usual robe attire, staring at the sandy smears on the floor. "What happened here? Why is there fortification blend all over the floor?"

She turned the full intensity of her gaze onto Sakura. Her voice sharpened. "I said, _what happened here_? If I am made to repeat another question..."

"I...It's my fault, Matriarch," Hinata stammered. As Matriarch averted her gaze to Hinata, so did all the other employees aware of what was going on. She felt her face burn but still continued.

"It was my fault. I...I must've startled Sakura-san as she was doing her duty...it's because of me that she dropped the bucket."

The Matriarch glared at Hinata. Just then, Temari and Shikamaru emerged from the baths, horrified expressions on their faces. The Matriarch stared at them. She turned to Sakura, who cowered under the gaze.

"So. You startled her and she dropped the bucket. Ridiculous. Who could get so startled as to drop a whole bucket of blend on the floor? Clean it up! Sakura and Hinata, for the next three days you will be making fortification blend. Ten buckets each to be exact."

Everyone's mouths dropped open and Temari stammered, "B-But Matriarch...that's...that's almost impossible! The most anyone of their level can make in a day is just three buckets—"

"Well then, it looks like they won't be sleeping OR even leaving this bathhouse for three days! And you both will still perform your nightly duties!"

"B-But...!"

"How...how will..."

"Ma'am, that's impossible for them—"

"_Silence_!"

The entire bathhouse was silent. So was Matriarch's voice, deadly and dripping with poison.

"A total of five buckets of fortification blend has been lost this year. One bucket is more than enough to lose. I have a new rule. One bucket of blend lost means ten more to supply the next day. Understood? _GET TO WORK_!"

Reluctantly, Hinata and Sakura turned to Shikamaru. He tensed up, then growled, clutching his forehead.

"This is so troublesome...!"

The Matriarch faced Sakura and Hinata again. "As for Hinata, up to my office, now."

* * *

**Hello! Man, I counted all the hours that I've worked on this chapter, and they total up to over six hours! :O  
But actually, if this chapter left you in a bit of a confusion, I'm sorry. It's just that I wrote all this stuff and it was nearly over eight pages...and that's WAAAAY too long so I put half of it for the seventh chapter.**

**So any questions of this chapter would be answered in the next.**

**Please R/F/A, hope you're all enjoying the story so far!**

**It gets more exciting to write each time :3 !**

**And once again, I'm sorry about the late update. As a little treat, I'll update this weekend. Because this week is testing so we let out earlier. And I can't do swim practice do to injury. (-4 hours) And I've started on the seventh chapter. (-...3 hours)**

**CRAP! That means. Seventh chapter might be shorter. MIGHT. Because I've mapped out the chapter contents already and it's sort of off center because of this extra long sixth/seven chapter. I've gotta find a way to make it meld smoothly and not in extremely huge cliffhangers that would kill you.**

(**10:29 P.M.** Monday, April 22, 2008.)


	7. Cloudy Places

_**The Love Therapist  
**_Chapter Seven

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Ah wow. My like for Deidara is growing more and more. I must add some Gaara to neutralize it (x

Actually I wonder if you guys read my stupid author notes anyway...

Oh! And I've made a new story. DeiHinaSaso fic. Please read(:

And heed this warning: this chapter may be long. ...Very...long. But its very important too. That's why I gave you the three day weekend to read it! :D It's also long because of spaces between dialogue, so don't be discouraged... :)

**RE-EDIT** Friday Dec 17, 2010, 10:50 p.m., rainy weather, I do not like Deidara anymore, but I saw a Gaara wallet today and it made my heart thump.

* * *

Slamming the door to the office, the Matriarch ordered Hinata to sit. She then glided behind her desk and rested her hands on the table. Her expression was very chagrined.

"Hinata. Listen to me carefully."

Said woman gulped and nodded. The Matriarch stared deep into her lavender eyes.

"You know that Sakura was the ex-masseur, don't you? Well. I don't know what in hell compelled me to bring her back into the bathhouse last week, but I thought it is best to tell you now. Sakura is retrying for the masseur position again."

Hinata had no response. She opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it again, only to say nothing again. Was that why there was such a tense atmosphere during their meeting yesterday? Why everyone was so gloomy lately?

"But..." she croaked, feeling a familiar burn behind her sockets. Why was life getting so confusing and unfair? She never even got a chance to become masseur, and here was this other girl, her used-to-be _friend_, who performed a scandal and...the Matriarch was letting Sakura compete against her?

"Listen."

Everything felt leaden. Hinata's pale eyes refused to look up, knowing the lamplight would give evidence that she was almost in tears.

"Look at me."

Hinata tried her hardest to meet Matriarch's gaze without a flicker of emotion.

"Know that I'm doing this because I have faith in you. She is a girl who is used to winning; she never felt true pain or the punishment of losing. You have the skills to surpass her. So please, as a favor to me, defeat that harlot's chance to come back!"

The next three days were foggy and perplexing; both a slow growing hell and a small bit of paradise. Kankuro eventually buckled out and dropped Sakura into Temari's hands. But it didn't happen without a fierce battle between the two siblings.

Temari completely disregarded Kankuro's existence when Sakura was eventually made to be in Hinata's group. That was bad. But even worse, the two women now knew they had their own battle to fight with each other. The already tense atmosphere between them continued to thrive. Work was growing into a frenzied competition; it grew to the point where Hinata and Sakura would stare at each other from across the room, the other attempting to chop, boil, or massage faster and better than the other. Dislike for each other was inevitable in those moments.

Still, Hinata took Deidara's advice. She remembered the Matriarch's plea. She took faith in their words and refused to let her confidence crumble like it always did.

And strangely, these negative feelings for the pink lady benefited her in an offhand way. It was shared amongst all the other employees who truly believed Sakura was the cause behind all the recent trouble and somehow, in some strange and twisted way, actually brought Hinata much closer to people who otherwise wouldn't have cared if the masseur position was taken from her or not.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Gaara usually came on the dusk of the second or third weekend of every month. It was a third weekend. And it was turning dusk. Gaara would be coming soon. Hinata smiled as she anticipated this. Ever since the Kazekage walked her through the dangerous streets of Konoha, Hinata had been eager to see him again and talk to him. She hadn't seen him once throughout the time he lent her the hotel room, even though they were right next door. She assumed it was his work and, of course, his gentlemanly manners of escorting people around.

"Hinata-chaaan!"

"Hello Ino-chan!"

"I'm DEIDARA, HM! What is so _hard_ about distinguishing between me and Ino? Hmph!"

Hinata flushed and giggled. "I'm really sorry, Dei-kun. You and Ino-chan just look so similar..."

Deidara scoffed loudly. "We do NOT! Anyway, I came to ask you something. Wanna work with me and everyone else tonight? We have this bet that the five people who get the least tips must drink four bottles of sake, spin around thirty times, do ten perfect backflips, and choose between the laundry machine or the whirlpool sauna on full power mode for the last and best befuddling sensation that dizzifies your brain to the point where it hallucinates beautiful bursts of strange energy and color, thus bringing out true art in just a simple repetition and continuation of motions and movements—"

Deidara threw an arm around Hinata's neck and began skipping off towards the kitchens. She laughed while choking.

"Dei-kun! Ack! I'm suffocating!"

"—and after that you go up to the Matriarch on a dare to either ask for money for condoms or offer to teach her the man's version of breaststroke swimming lessons—"

"I'd love to, Dei-chan, but!—"

"HOORAAAYYYY! We'll have tons of fun! Tonight is the night you learn to conquer the fears of dizziness! Tonight's the night when you'll be doing twirls of agony and experience wonderful dips of nausea! Tonight's the night—"

"—That Gaara-sama comes and I must give him my services!"

"Huh? Kazekage-sama? Tonight? Aw! Hina-chan, can't you just skip one day? I really want you to hang with us!"

The pair silenced when Sakura entered their hall. Deidara's radiant grin was replaced by a cold, stony expression and he unwound his arm from Hinata. Hinata also felt the smile drip off her cheeks as she walked solemnly towards the other approaching woman.

Hard tension knotted in Hinata's stomach as she got closer and closer to Sakura. A wicked smirk crossed the ex-masseur's lips. Hinata felt a sudden surge of panic as she quickly analyzed the contents of the pink lady's expression. Now they were walking right past each other, Sakura coming close enough so that Hinata could smell her apple-scented perfume. A bony shoulder bumped hard into her shoulder.

"Watch it," Sakura said coldly.

Hinata grit her teeth and felt the veins around her eyes throb impulsively. She remembered Matriarch's words: "_I will NOT take in people who would keep grudges or try making enemies and disorder among the staff._"

_If I respond the 'effective' way to this, I will most certainly get fired_, Hinata thought gloomily, imagining that if she was born with a temper like Temari's she would most certainly use her detailed strings of profanities and blast them off her tongue like rockets to shoot down that hideous pink and green enemy with her explosions of fucks and shits and her lavender glares of laser and maybe probably add a bloody knuckle sandwich or two...but she could never get herself to perform that sort of attitude anyway. She'll stay nice, thank you; be as kind as possible to the enemy and make them feel bad about themselves.

She held her head up and met the sharp green eyes without faltering. "Excuse me," she replied, trying to hide the quiver in her voice. She turned around and didn't look back as she heard a small huff behind her. Hinata relaxed when she turned the corner, finding a wall to hide behind.

She looked up when she felt Deidara's hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Hinata-chan. I'll protect you if she tries to bother you." He smiled reassuringly.

Hinata nodded, feeling her mood lift up immensely. Their friendship had gotten much stronger after his nightly escorting became a routine, but it was times like this that she liked him best. Then the blonde giggled. "So, Hina-chan, you up for the dizzy competition?"

The woman simpered a little, nervously scratching her cheek. "I'd love to, but tonight's when Gaara-sama...um...Okay. I promise I will, but only if—"

"—She joins me at dinner and gives me a massage. Thank you for pointing that out, Hyuga-chan."

Both employees spun around and froze. "Gaara-sama?"

Staring at the both of them, he hesitantly said, "Hello to you t—"

They immediately threw themselves into a bow. "Welcome to the Yuuto Hot Springs, Kazekage-sama!" They both cried out.

The Kazekage paused, then gave an uneven smirk. "Hello Hyuga-chan." He turned to Deidara. "And hello...you. If you don't mind, I'll be taking Hinata for the time being. You can play your game with her after she is done."

Deidara struggled not to make ugly faces at the Kazekage as he walked Hinata away to the baths.

"I-I'll see you after work, Dei-chan," Hinata called over her shoulder. "Good luck for the rest of today!"

"You too! Hm!"

Hinata failed to notice the solemn frown that formed on Gaara's face as she said this.

**o o o o o o o o o o **

Watching the activity in the main room was one of Hinata's favorite activities during any break in her work. The sight of children playing around the streaming waterfall, groups huddling together in the hot springs, customers eating and chatting away at the dining verandas, and employees carrying food or products everywhere put her in a transfixed state of leisure. The tree branches were for the more reserved: couples dining together with trays of food and drink on their laps and others resting in hammocks, surrounded by orange paper lanterns. It never ceased to make her wonder how one room contained so many different bodies, yet all arrived to relax and become clean once more. She jumped when Gaara spoke.

"Follow me," he said.

He jumped onto an extended tree branch below and walked several steps. He turned to see if she was coming.

Hinata was having trouble with her socks; she couldn't keep her balance on the branch unless she took them off. Suddenly, Gaara appeared beside her. Wrapping an arm around her waist he jumped back down onto the same branch. He landed cat-like and jumped again, dodging several tangles of vines and leaves on the way. Then he set Hinata down. They were at one of the tables in the lower levels of the tree. It had the best view of the large room, yet kept the diners well hidden behind a curtain of leaves. Among the hanging lanterns were bright little fireflies, floating around lazily in the soft, musky air. The table was set with a meal for one. Gaara sat on the pillow mat in front of the plate and broke his chopsticks apart. He was about to take a bite of his meal when he noticed Hinata still standing, watching him quietly.

"Aren't you going to sit down?" he said.

Hinata opened her mouth, paused, then asked, "Is there anything I could get for you?"

Gaara stared at her. "Sit," he ordered. Hinata made her way in front of him and sat. The kazekage began eating and a few moments of silence passed. Hinata looked up from observing people when she heard his chopsticks drop on the plate.

"Are you a masseur yet?"

"No, but I'm almost there."

"Why is it taking so long?"

Hinata stared at the empty plate and felt her confidence slide a little. "A...another person is also applying for masseur. the Matriarch isn't sure who to has better talent."

Gaara raised an eyebrow. "How could someone like you have a rival? There is no one else more suitable for the job."

Hinata met green eyes for a second and looked away, feeling a blush and a shy smile creep onto her face. She was extremely relieved that Gaara didn't ask who it was.

"W-Would you like a massage right now?"

Gaara sighed and leaned back against a branch. "Nope. I'll just relax for now. You'll also be seeing me for a while anyway..."

Hinata cocked her head. "A while?"

Gaara looked away from Hinata. "Remember that night when I escorted you to the hotel?"

Hinata nodded.

"That man. The fat one."

She definitely remembered, and shivered slightly. "He fell right when we jumped onto the rooftops."

"Well, you know how something happened to him. But it turns out he was murdered. By someone or something. An anonymous saw us running away, and they assumed you were the one who had killed that man."

"Me? Murder?" Hinata's eyes widened to the size of baseballs. "But...why are you..."

"The Konoha council wants me to testify on the cause of his death," Gaara said casually. "So they're making me stay here for further evaluation. Combined with further business matters between Sand and Leaf. And while I am indisposed during the daylight hours, at night I will be coming here to relax. Those tedious meetings can really kill someone..."

Hinata giggled.

He watched her carefully. "Where are you staying now? Did the hotel room expire?"

"T-today is the second to last day before checkout. I-it's a nice alternative, b-but I'm finding a place to permanently stay at."

"That's good. May I have a massage at the bath in an hour?"

"O-of course."

"Let's hope you don't fall on my head again."

"T-that was—! W-well, let's hope I do s-so you won't remember I ever did!"

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Hinata couldn't stop the blush from forming on her cheeks as she watched the Kazekage emerge from behind the bathing screen, wrapping a towel around his waist. She immediately turned away to give him privacy and, she didn't want to admit, to hide that blush too. Even though she had pored over so many medical and massage books that she was virtually immune to both the male and female body, she was still unaccustomed to seeing an attractive person literally in the flesh. And upon observing his physical attributes, she noted with a pang of fear, he was a very lucky man.

With no sign of blemishes, save for a scar on his left shoulder and the kanji scar on his forehead, he had clean skin currently gleaming, fragrant and fresh from his bath. His hair was a dark wet maroon and shaped into many disoriented, dripping spikes that seemed to sharpen his image. As for his muscles, they were slim for a usual ninja's build but it was still a very nice view crowned by a very handsome face.

Gaara didn't seem to care whether the ninety-nine point nine percent of the female population in the bathhouse stared at him (the objective point one percent being Temari and Hinata). Hinata understood why. If Konoha girls were like this then Suna girls would probably be like flies stuck to honey, lucky to have such a good-looking leader. Though feeling a slight throb of annoyance at the thought, she grinned inwardly to herself knowing that she could massage Gaara's body professionally while the rest of the females couldn't. She fetched a robe hanging on the screen and helped Gaara put it on. Together they walked in silence to the massage room.

The Kazekage sat down on the table and held out one of his hands. Hinata immediately grabbed it and set to work. His lips twitched at her eagerness. He suspected she liked massaging his hand as much as he liked receiving it.

Gaara closed his eyes and sighed. Hinata looked up. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Peace is so easy to make and so hard to find in its true form," Gaara murmured. "I find genuine peace here...I wonder if that's an omen?"

Hinata didn't reply. She moved her hands to his back and proceeded to massage the tense muscle there. After several minutes, she felt the beginnings of Gaara leaning back against her. Suddenly he collapsed backward. She gasped and caught him, his head resting on her shoulder and her arms around his chest to keep him from falling. Gaara fell asleep? Now she could go play that horrifying game with Deidara...

Placing a pillow on the futon, Hinata arranged Gaara carefully on the silk, laying an extra robe over him. She stared at his sleeping form, particularly focusing on his hair. Her fingers slowly reached out towards his hair, curious for the feeling. It was immensely soft, like feathers. She ran her fingers over the ends of the strands, marveling at the feeling. His facial features were also the same: soft, relaxed, incredibly peaceful. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest as she slowly drew back her hand, smiling shyly to no one.

Suddenly she remembered Deidara's game. She looked at the clock. Eleven-thirty. It was way too late to be playing anything if they were to work tomorrow. Feeling a huge pang of guilt, she ran out of the room.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

At the kitchen, Naruto and Deidara lay in a drunken stupor on the floor. Rock Lee was chained in the corner. All of them had black eyes and slap burns. A sign was taped to the wall, and on it were indecipherable words and pictures in food coloring. Cracked sake bottles were scattered on the floor. A gooey trashcan was also nearby and with a touch of nausea Hinata did not want to see what was inside. Deidara spotted Hinata and grinned, a dark pink hue staining his cheeks. He wobbled to his feet and began walking towards her, when he stumbled and landed on her.

"Deidara! How will you go home if you're all intoxicated like this?"

"Mrfymbug...you shouldn't—haven't—hm—not should not—have been—hm—have should been there, Hiyaya-chan, hic...Your vision takes on a whole new di...hic-dimensition...dimenstional...dimensional...hic..."

"Would you even be able to work tomorrow?"

"Ano...bathhouse...stay...I do...you should too...Kiba's dog pillows...dynamite...fish..."

"Uh..." Hinata thought about how Gaara was going to come and find her hotel room empty, but she certainly didn't want to leave Deidara all alone in the bathhouse, drunken and bound to get hungover sooner or later.

"I puh...tuh...puthtuhromise...promise... I'll walk you home tomorrow. Hotel, I mean."

Hinata gave him a sweet smile. "It won't be available tomorrow but thank you anyway, Dei-kun."

**o o o o o o o o o o**

The sea of pillows and objects were once again scattered in the secret headquarters. It appeared that the floor never existed in this room. And now she knew why. Deidara brought back yet another stack of silk blankets and tossed them in random areas of the room. He dusted his hands and smiled, his drunk spell still hovering.

Hinata laughed. "So THIS is the reason why this room is always so messy when I clean it! When someone wants to sleep here, all they do it toss bedding around and crawl up a nest for themselves! They could just put a blanket and pillow on the sofa."

"Of course! But sofas are used for the sitting, not the sleeping. And now, the royally guarded secret to the sleeping in a bathhouse! Pick a corner and go to sleep."

"Really!"

"I know! So cool, hmm? So you get it, right? Right. Goodnight."

Hinata giggled at the sarcasm and laughed harder still when she watched Deidara wiggle underneath a pile of pillows, making himself a cave. She wanted to sleep amongst the pillows in the headquarters, but she thought about Gaara lying in the massage room.

"Deidara, I have to go..."

"Shh, Hina-chan...you'll wake everyone up, hm," Deidara mumbled sleepily, muffled under all the pillows.

"What? Everyone?"

"There's like...six or seven people that sleep here each night...they'd appreciate some quiet...ugh..."

"Oh. I am sorry."

"Mm."

"...Dei-kun?"

"Mmm?"

"I'll go, alright?"

"Mm."

"Okay."

"Mm."

Getting up from her crouch, Hinata exited the headquarters, closing the door quietly behind her. She sprinted up the stairs to the massage room. Slowly opening the door, she peeked inside. Gaara wasn't there.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Deidara and Naruto both had terrible hangovers the next day. Hinata was the one to take care of them. There was a knock to the door of the room she was in and Ino appeared.

"Hinata? Gaara-sama is here to see you," she said.

Hinata looked up from her work. "He is? Who will take care of Naruto and Deidara?"

"I will." Both girls turned to the new voice. Sakura was standing in the doorway behind Ino, looking at Hinata. "I'll take care of them. You go fulfill your duties with the Kazekage."

She felt uneasy when Sakura said that. Nevertheless, she quickly stood up and walked out of the room.

Gaara was standing on the base of the same tree branch as yesterday, only he didn't return Hinata's greeting and looked at her with a slight irritation. He led her to the same table they ate at, now set with a meal for two. They both sat on the pillow mats, neither saying anything to the other. A long moment of awkward silence passed; Hinata squirmed, unable to focus on the people working below. Then,

"You weren't there yesterday."

Hinata looked at the Kazekage. His voice was low.

"You weren't in the hotel room. Where did you go?"

"Well I-I...I was going to go to the hotel, b-but my friend who walks me there w-was indisposed...so I d-decided to stay at the bathhouse f-for tonight..."

Gaara drank a sip of sake and dropped the glass onto the table. He broke his chopsticks and motioned for Hinata to do the same. "Your friend. What's his name?"

"D-Deidara."

She looked down at her hands beneath the table. The chopsticks were visibly trembling from her nervous grip.

"Eat," Gaara ordered. Startling a little, Hinata nervously took a piece of meat from a plate and put it in her mouth, but she couldn't taste it due to her nervousness. It was even more difficult to chew while the pair of piercing green eyes watched her.

"Tell Deidara that his escorting isn't needed as long as I am here."

Hinata didn't respond.

"Well?"

"I-I checked t-to see if you were still in the massage room yesterday," she said quietly.

His brow creased slightly in surprise. "You checked for me?"

"I was h-hoping that you were going to e-escort me back, but y-you were gone..."

Gaara looked down at his plate of food and didn't reply.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Deidara paced back and forth impatiently in front of the entrance. All the other workers were either sleeping or have left over an hour ago. He himself would be buried deep inside his soft warm bed, sleeping away the problems of the day as well as his dumb hangover, except that he promised Hinata he would walk her to her hotel. His heart leapt when he saw the said woman heading towards him.

"Hinata-chan!" he cried. "You're finally out!"

Hinata finally reached him and smiled. "Hello, Dei-kun. Is your hangover better?"

"Not really. But hey! You missed another one of our games today! It was even better than yesterday. You should've been there." Deidara's eyes narrowed and he looked at Hinata mock-angrily.  
You promised yesterday that you would be with the rest of us after you finished your sessions with the Kazekage. You didn't make it today either."

"Today's session ended just now," Hinata replied sadly. "I'm sorry."

Deidara frowned. "What is it you guys do that takes so long to finish?" he asked accusingly. Hinata ignored his question.

"How long were you waiting here?"

"One hour and thirty minutes."

"One hour thirty minutes? But you're sick! You should've just left for home!"

"And leave a friend behind, all alone to fend for herself? I don't think so." Deidara gave Hinata one of his warm smiles.

"Thank you! J-Just for saying that." She shyly gave him a hug, feeling some resistance from his arms when she pulled away from the blonde. His cheeks were slightly pink and his smile larger than usual.

"Ready to walk now?"

Hinata lowered her head and looked away. The blonde cocked his head and raised an eyebrow.

"Something wrong?"

"I understand the inconvenience you may feel after I tell you this, Deidara-san, but tonight, or can I say as long as I'm here, she won't be needing your escorting because I will be doing that."

Deidara swirled around and stared in surprise at the Kazekage behind him, then looked questioningly at Hinata.

Hinata gulped. "Well...G-Gaara-sama and I are staying in the same hotel...actually, he's the one paying for my hotel room...so it would only make sense for...for—"

"You can always walk Hyuga-san around when I'm not here. But as of now we won't be needing you. Goodnight, have a restful evening." Hinata's mouth dropped open in shock and she pulled away from the hand that reached for her elbow.

"W-wait! Gaara-sama, Dei-kun—Deidara has waited over an hour for—! Deidara-kun, perhaps we should see you home, just in case—"

"It's okay, Hinata." Deidara stood up from his spot. "It's all good. See you tomorrow." His expression was unreadable as he walked away from them into the dark, and it hurt Hinata badly.

Anger and guilt took over her facial features as she watched Deidara's retreating back. A large hand firmly grasped her wrist. Hinata tried to resist but of course, he was too strong for her.

"Stop that," Gaara ordered.

"Let go!" Hinata tried to push off his fingers. Still no use. The Kazekage easily pulled Hinata across the streets, her anger growing with every step. At the hotel entrance, she refused to enter.

"What's wrong with you?" Gaara said.

"I-it's very nice of you to be doing all this for me Gaara-sama, b-but...I a-apologize for saying this but i-it was quite rude w-what you did to my friend—"

"I told you to tell him that you wouldn't be needing him tonight. It is his fault he was standing out there."

"B-but I was with _you_ t-the whole time!"

"Well, now he knows. Go inside."

"Y-you'll be going back to Y-Yuuto Springs tomorrow, aren't you? P-please apologize to him then."

"I don't apologize to people I don't know. Go inside."

"I...I won't go. U-unless you p-p-promise to apologize.."

Gaara pulled at her wrist. Hinata resisted. His face contorted in annoyance and he let her wrist go, an aching red mark where his hand was.

"Fine," he hissed. "Stay out here where its dangerous! It will be your fault if something happens to you."

Hinata turned her back on Gaara. She heard him mumble incoherent words as his footsteps traveled away from her. However, once she heard the door close, Hinata suddenly felt cold, vulnerable and on edge. She now felt like going into the hotel, but her momentary anger at the Kazekage made her hold back. She would not stoop to someone who was rude to her best friend for no reason.

A cold wind blew and dead leaves crackled across the ground. The foliage travel their path of wind until all of a sudden a familiar-looking clean sheet of paper flew against her foot. She picked it up, reading the letters across the front. Her eyes widened. It was her graduating diploma, from her belongings!

She glanced around, hoping that some more of her papers would be flying around.

A mixture of clacks and sharp crunches of leaves sounded a ways ahead of her. She looked up. She froze. It was a man in a long trenchcoat, standing under the puddle of orange streetlight just across the street from her. It was THE man in the long trenchcoat, one the who followed her some few weeks ago, watching her watch him back.

Hinata's breath stuck in her throat. She swallowed down the hard lump and opened her mouth to speak. Suddenly, a cat yowled and Hinata gasped, glancing behind her. When she looked back across the pool of shadow to the dark orange circle of light across the street, there was no one there. She shook her head and squinted back at the streetlight, recalling the last time that man had appeared and disappeared.

"I must be seeing things," she mumbled to herself. "Oh, wait. I'm part of the Hyuga clan. Of course I would be seeing things." A lame Hyuga inside joke.

"Hyuga-chan?" Hinata jumped and turned around once more to see Gaara kneeling next to her, a slight expression of guilt on his face. He kept his voice soft and his eyes locked on the piece of paper she was holding.

"Hinata...I am sorry for my earlier behavior..."

Hinata watched his hand find a place on her shoulder. She let her smile express her words. The stress drained from Gaara's face and he smiled back.

"Let's go inside, Hyuga-chan. It's dangerous out here." The hand that was previously on her shoulder was now extended to her. She hesitantly took it, blushing a little at the familiar soft feel when he pulled her up. As they walked through the entrance doors, Hinata looked back over her arm. The man wasn't there. She frowned to herself and concentrated on Gaara's back. She was probably just hallucinating hallucinations.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

"Hmm...Kazekage Gaara, Kazekage Gaara, oh! Here it is. I-I'm sorry sir, but your second room has been c-canceled due to lack of use. We have only one room key for you," the hotel assistant announced, nervously sliding the single plastic card to Hinata and Gaara.

"Lack of use? The only time it wasn't used was yesterday!" Gaara said loudly, his eyes burning. The assistant cowered slightly.

"I'm sorry sir, b-but due to the huge number of customers s-staying at this hotel, rooms n-need to be given out immediately so e-everyone could be satisfied. I-If no one uses their hotel room, the room is given away."

"Oh, like some damn lottery ticket? She _needs_ that room!" Gaara pointed Hinata out to the assistant.

"Well, we do have one room..." the assistant said, looking through some files. "You can exchange your current room for a grand suite, 16000 yen..."

"16000 yen? What kind of place is this? This is ridi—look, see that woman? See her? She's a _female_. Females cherish their privacy and space and they have the worst tantrums if they don't! I know this because I have a sister! I don't mind if I must share a room with her, but she might!"

Overhearing the commotion, Hinata shyly approached the front desk.

"G-Gaara-sama, we can stay at a-another hotel...I can a-afford my own room—"

"Never mind that._"_

Hinata gulped and tapped Gaara on the shoulder. "G-Gaara-sama? she squeaked. "P-Please don't...that's too much! Really, I can stay elsewhere..."

"It's fine," came the dark reply.

"No really—Gaara-sama, I d-don't mean to say I mind sharing a room, but p-please, just don't pay all that for me. I am bound to be sleeping elsewhere soon, anyway."

"Does this room come with two beds?"

"Y-yes, sir. Complete with a large bathroom and a living room section—"

Gaara turned his green eyes fully upon Hinata's lavender ones. Hinata stared back, showing firm decision in her own pale eyes. The Kazekage shoved his wallet back into his pocket and grabbed the card from the counter.

"Alright sir. One shared room."

Hinata stared nervously down at her hands.

* * *

**Okkaaaay, so maybe I didn't explain everything in chapter 6 that was supposed to be explained in this chapter. BUT, that's why I added cliffhanger! Ahh cliffhanger! :D **

**This WAS going to be an extremely long chapter though, but as i kept up the writing for four more hours, it eventually turned from seven pages to twelve, so...um...TOO LONG. **

**Please read, review, and enjoy! I write this story for you guys :D**


	8. A Sunny Place

_**The Love Therapist**  
Chapter Eight_

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Hello everyone! I'm so sorry for not updating for months. Gotta ton of pretty good excuses if you ask me, but no one really cares about excuses. But anyway. I went online here after all this time and HOLY CRAP! The visitor log thing and all the reviews/favorites/alerts on my stories and everything T.T **THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!** I really, seriously appreciate you taking your time to look through my stories and commenting on them.

**RE-EDIT:** 12/12/10 Sunday, 9:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.

**

* * *

**

The hotel room, true to the assistant's words, had two large beds and a living room suite. It was a beautifully designed room, with soft plush cream carpeting and red-and-gold wallpaper. The bathroom was made of polished slabs of black stone. Going into the bathroom, Hinata tested the knobs for water in the shower. Left for hot. Right for cold.

Emerging back into the main room, she noticed with a pang of relief a set of pajamas lying on the bed. She had forgotten to bring her spare clothes from the bathhouse. Picking up the bundle in her arms, she hesitated a little. Gaara had placed his gourd by his bed. He was sitting in a desk in the corner of the room, deeply absorbed in the papers he held in his hands.

"I-I will shower, Gaara-sama," she called quietly.

He nodded and didn't look up. After a ten minute shower, she came out of the bathroom. She glanced over to Gaara. The papers were fanned out on his desk, and he was facing away, leaning back in his chair in deep thought.

When she woke up, he was gone.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

The bathhouse was in a tizzy when Hinata arrived.

"TWO important people today, so much to DO—"

"Sai and Deidara needs to finish that painting!"

"Tenten, Ino, did you put the special silk covers on the pillows?"

"I'll get that done!"

"Someone take over for Anko, she fell inside a hot spring!"

"We still need one hundred seven buckets of fortification blend to make, people! One hundred and seven buckets!"

"Chouji says he needs helpers for the meal preps!"

"Kiba, help me fortify the suite pools!"

"I need to refill the aromatic scents and candle bowls! Tell Naruto to help!"

"Where is Naruto? I'm helping Chouji, I just need to find my sash—"

"I think I saw your sash in the kitchen..."

Hinata tried figuring out the situation through bits of conversation she heard while she tied up her outfit.

"How Naruto looks doesn't matter for Gaara! Tell him to hurry the hell up!"

"But he's still the Kazekage, dumbass!"

"Not just the Kazekage, you dumbasses! The Raikage is coming also! You all better prep yourself up. Each time he comes to Yuuto he throws huge parties. He's a trail of work."

"Where the hell is Sakura? She's pissing me off, just disappears when everyone needs help—"

"I think she went to go to the bathroom..."

"She went there like three hours ago!"

"She must be preparing the massage rooms. Masseurs need a lot of time to pamper up their workroom, especially Yuuto's workroom you know..."

"Hinata! Where's Hinata?"

Hinata raised her hand. "Here I am!"

Kankuro pushed his way through the crowd and dragged Hinata over to a looser corner with less people.

"You probably just heard but the Raikage is staying for three or four nights at this bathhouse, and he's planning some massage sessions. Sakura already stocked up the massage rooms, so all you have to do is make yourself presentable and fortify the hot springs in the grand suite areas. If you have any leftover time, then help Chouji set the tables for my brother, and do it quickly because he has a guest tonight. And apparently, I don't think either man knows that the other is there, so only bring up their names if one of them asks."

"Okay!"

He grinned at her. She glanced at Kankuro's face briefly, reminded momentarily of Temari and Gaara.

Hinata dashed into the secret headquarters and arranged her clothes neatly through the mirror. She brushed her long hair till it shone softly and braided it loosely down her back, letting two strands of her frame her face. She was redoing her hair once more when she noticed a certain pile of neatly folded white clothes on the table next to her. On top was a note with her name. Hinata picked up the note and turned it over.

_This is not Yuuto's real masseur attire but it will be used from now on during sessions, to distinguish the trainees from the crowd and the discriminating customer.  
- Matriarch_

She shoved the note into her pocket without reading it carefully and pulled on the white outfit. It was a replica of the worker's outfit except it had no sleeves and was very fitted, but long enough to not require leggings. Hinata retied her silver sash and observed herself quickly in the mirror once more, her face dropping in horror at the sight. She quickly turned away. The dress hugged her entire body to make it look like a soda bottle and it terrified her. Also, her upper arms and half of her legs were exposed. She felt self-conscious even before leaving the room.

Hinata went into the kitchen to help Chouji, only to be sent out to wait for Neji. She took the time to step onto the rung of the walkway's wood railing to peer down at the first floor.

Lee and Shino were doing last minute pruning on the plants and trees inside the building. Kiba was lighting the gas torches lining the stone paths between baths and floating glass bowls of lit candles on the koi river flowing through the main room. Kankuro and Naruto were using chakra to float some of the glowing glass bowls into the air. Temari and Tenten were carrying lacquer boxes of the kages' spa materials to the respective places. Sai and Deidara were staggering beneath an intricately painted paper screen. Shikamaru was calculating the time and degrees it would take to bring sake to the Raikage and Kazekage at the perfect temperature, while Ino was sent to heat or chill the chosen sake. Hinata was suddenly aware of a presence beside her and turned to see Neji standing there, also observing the scene below. He was wearing a different outfit as well, a light gray robe.

"You seem appropriately confident for once."

"Appropriately confident?"

Neji stared at Hinata. "You certainly changed a deal since your arrival here."

Hinata shrugged. "Well, you just get used to it all."

"And you changed from this morning."

"This morning?"

"Neji, Hinata. I need help." Both of them turned around to see Chouji balancing lacquer boxes piled with food.

Neji and Hinata took ten boxes each and walked together to the dining suites. Hinata shifted her to head face Neji and let confusion color her face.

"What do you mean? Is something about to happen?"

Pearly eyes momentarily made eye contact before looking away. "You're taking this so lightly. When you first came, you were terrified of even having the prospect of someone competing against you for the masseur title. Now there really is a competition and the competition is tonight, with two extremely important men as your customers, and you just shrug it off like you aren't scared of the whole thing."

"Compe...competition?"

She did not understand this. A small pebble of ice sprouted inside Hinata's gut. Then realization hit hard, making the small sprout grow into a full-blown wildfire of chill that enveloped her being.

"_To distinguish the TRAINEES from the discriminating customer._"

So. The Raikage and Gaara were going to appear at the Yuuto Springs tonight, and this was the date Matriarch had chosen for her and Sakura to compete. Compete. Competition. How she hated that word.

They reached the door of the Raikage's dining suite. The two cousins set down their boxes and began unstacking them.

"_Discriminating customer..."_ And Matriarch would go to both the Raikage and Kazekage Gaara and ask for their reviews. She would try her best with the Raikage. As for Gaara, he constantly asked for massages but she had no idea whether he really enjoyed them or not, his face was always so emotionless.

"Hinata." Said woman turned to meet her cousin's gaze. He was frowning deeply.

"You're scared now, aren't you."

Hinata didn't answer but her eyes gave her away.

"W-What?"

Neji narrowed his eyes.

"With your talent," he spoke in a low voice, "you should be proud of yourself. But you act like you're the most pitiful person in your field. You've probably been unconfident in doing things that you were actually pretty good at because you never had enough confidence to continue to _reinforce_ them. Change that part of yourself, won't you? This is something that won't get worse even if you do not have the confidence to do it. Its not technique you need to improve, but rather you need to learn how to reinforce that feeling of possessing a healthy skill through bad times. That is what helps your confidence grow."

Neji started to open the boxes and take out the food inside, still showing signs of an aroused temper.

"Plants need sun and water to grow. Some are indoors but most need to be cultivated outdoors. The plant is your talent, the sun is your confidence, and the water is your technique. This is you. You're keeping an outdoor plant indoors. You're hiding the pleasure-giving art of massage in a place where only very few will experience it. You're giving it only water, and no sun. Don't think that the plant will wither and dry up when you put it in the light. Because it won't. It is a skill that people reach out to, once they see."

Hinata looked down at her hands. How accurate her cousin was.

"Of course, you cannot grow a plant without sun or water. Sure, the plant would survive for just a while, but it will die. Hinata, put your flower in the sun. Put it where people can see it. If they like it, it won't wither because they'll be nurturing it with you as well. But it's not your technique you need to increase. It's your confidence. Increase your light."

**o o o o o o o o o o**

The dining suite wasn't actually a large room where many guests could eat, but rather tables set in small rooms on verandas. Hinata stood in one of the rooms, staring with wonder at the beauty and serenity of the area. Yuuto Hot Springs had rooms like this? She had to explore the place some more.

The room Gaara chose was an open balcony overlooking a large waterlily pond of koi lit by underwater lights and long torches. Lanterns either hung from nearby trees or were infused with chakra to float sensuously through the air. A circular firepit filled with smoldering ashes surrounded a table in its center. The table was painted with a picture of two pearly cranes curving their necks to form an area to set the main dish.

The table was almost completely set up. A dish had small crabs and fried fish adorned inside stripes of salt. Other dishes contained hard-boiled quail eggs and sweet shrimp resting on a bed of lettuce, crispy golden noodles covered in a thick sauce with bits of pork and chicken, a dish of perfectly cooked Korean barbecue, different types of rolls, and a dish that contained a meat that Hinata was not familiar with. A stone bowl held a spicy seafood soup which contained boiled crabs, fish, shrimp, oysters, thin white mushrooms, spinach leaves, slices of chili peppers and udon noodles. There were vials of chilled sake and warm barley tea, with two china cups, two pairs of chopsticks, and two bowls of steaming white rice sprinkled with sesame seeds.

She knelt down to place the main dish in the center of the table. It held artfully arranged pieces of fresh sushi and sashimi with two slices of lemon, ginger and a dollop of wasabi, decorated with dashes of soy sauce.

Gaara sat down in one of the silk pillow mats by the table. His eyes appraised Hinata's body in its new clothes carefully as she stood there, but she was busy staring at the food and didn't notice. Her mouth watered and her spirit sunk a little. It was a series of some of Chouji's best dishes; her favorites. Whoever Gaara was treating tonight was going to be one happy guest. She certainly wished she was the person who would be enjoying this meal with Gaara. But of course, if it's was Chouji's best, then it certainly wasn't meant for her. So she quickly knelt down at the table side and gestured to the drinks before lifting a bottle.

"Sake or barley tea, Kazekage-sama? Chouji-sama is not only skilled with Asian cuisine, but he also makes the best brews of sake and tea! His barley tea's one of the best, I recommend drinking that first. You and your guest are certainly lucky tonight..."

Hinata trailed off. Gaara was staring at her, his mouth hanging slightly open, an expression of disbelief on his face. Hinata returned the gaze with equal confusion and set down the bottle, picking up the sake vial.

"W-would you like sake instead, Gaa-sma?" she nervously asked, feeling an inward wince as she pronounced his name wrong. Gaara set down his chopsticks and huffed before hiding his eyes behind his hand. Hinata saw his jaw muscle tensed up and wondered what she had done.

"Kazekage-sama?" she squeaked. Gaara slid his hand down his face, his lips slightly lifted. He picked up his chopsticks once more and pointed to the seat across.

"Who else would I invite to eat here with me? That's for you."

Hinata froze for a second, then cautiously arranged herself in the seat across from Gaara, smiling widely at him. She stared at the food, her eyes glittering. _Hmm, I just remembered this minute that yesterday's lunch was the last meal I had...  
_

Gaara held out his teacup and Hinata eagerly filled it with barley tea. He set down his cup and took the teapot from Hinata, gesturing for her to lift her cup. Once hers was full, he set down the pot.

They clinked the cups together and proceeded to drink.

Gaara watched Hinata over the edge of his teacup. Though the tea was steaming, the pale-eyed woman was sipping the liquid with ease, or more accurately something close to slight fervor.

"Excited, aren't you?" he commented.

Swallowing her mouthful of tea, Hinata replied, "I don't remember the last time someone offered to treat me to such a meal. I'm very grateful. You are a very generous person Gaara-sama, thank you so much!"

Gaara smirked and took a careful sip. "I heard tonight's a big night for you."

"A big night?"

"Temari told me that the Raikage might drop in for a massage. Some suspense for you, hm? Must be prepared to massage at his demand, whether he's there or not." He took a particularly large sip of tea, burning his tongue. "Gah!" he breathed.

Hinata took another gulp of tea in an attempt to rid herself of the nervousness she was beginning to feel in her stomach. "I-I guess. It shouldn't be t-too bad. I mean, it's not like h-he would be able to exile me if I caused an accident or something..."

"He could. He's a kage. Like me."

She set down her cup slowly, her hands stiff, staring at Gaara from across the table. Gaara stared back, before puffing again. "Don't worry, Hyuga-chan. There's a reason why Hikari-sama approved you to apply for masseur in one of Japan's top-notch bathhouses."

The pale woman nervously laughed and picked up her teacup once more. "Yes, I guess I should have some more confidence and stop worrying..."

"You should. I don't see why you can't. Well then, tonight's a big night. Eat up as much as you can so you are energized and ready for some massaging."

"Okay! Itadakimatsu!"

"Itadakimatsu. You may start first." Gaara watched Hinata make a beeline for the sashimi, and hid his small smile with a sip from his teacup.

* * *

It was Hinata who needed help being escorted to the hot springs room in which Gaara was supposed to bathe. Instead of being meticulous and constantly pampering like she usually was, she was relaxed and drowsy from food coma. Gaara allowed her to simply sit and wash his hair with aloe water that Naruto donated, giving her time to digest and rest before the massage session. Hinata sleepily rubbed her hands through his hair, gently scrubbing the strands together and dousing with water repeatedly. This made her even more sleepy.

Hinata didn't even know she fell asleep until she felt a tapping on her shoulder. She started, looked around and was surprised to see that Gaara wasn't in the hot spring. The tapping came again and Hinata looked up, before recoiling. Sakura was standing above her, a smug expression on her face.

"It's time for you to give your services to the Raikage," she said.

"Huh? Where is Gaara-sama?" Hinata asked, now awake. She quickly stood up and glanced at Sakura's outfit. To her horror, it was the same as hers. Matriarch really did set a competition between them. ...Sakura, with great skill, an attractive face, and a pretty body. Even Hinata had to admit that Sakura was a nice and charming person on her good side. She felt a negative pull in her heart.

"He wanted you to take a rest."

"Oh. Please tell me where he is, so I may apologize and—"

"He asked for me in place of you, since you were so tired. Also told me he wanted to 'try something new'," Sakura said with a slight smirk.

"Sakura-san, can't we switch places just for tonight? I told him I would do it."

"What? And you just expect me to go up to the Raikage, say 'Okay, your designated masseur will be switched because she wants to give the Kazekage a massage first?' I don't think so. And besides, you're making your customer wait, as well as mine."

Hinata felt her mouth harden. She felt the bitter black smog of anger erupt behind her eyes, run down her lungs and into her heart, making it pound angrily. The thought of having another woman massage Gaara! But, this was for the masseur title. Gaara wasn't the only one she must make a good impression upon. But...what if Gaara thinks Sakura is better than her? Prettier? More competent and intelligible? A small drop of jealousy colored the smog sour. She felt the taste tearing apart her confidence with an idea that didn't even happen, or not yet at least.

"_Please, as a great favor to me. Don't give that foolish brat a chance to come back!"_

"_This is something that won't get worse even if you do not have the confidence to do it. "_

"_There's a reason why Hikari-sama approved you to apply for masseur in one of Japan's top-notch bathhouses."_

Hinata allowed herself to enjoy some of the sunlight. Allowed her plant some sun. She spun on her heel and rushed over to the Raikage's massage room.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Gaara returned from the shower room, his skin steaming like a freshly boiled egg, wearing only a towel and scrubbing his wet hair with a scented cloth. He entered his hot spring area, feeling refreshed and glad.

"Hyuga-chan, wake up. Time for you to give me...eh?"

Gaara stopped walking and looked at the pink-haired woman before him, who was smiling sweetly and holding a box of spa products.

"Hello, Kazekage-sama! I am Sakura-san. Hinata-san is currently indisposed right now, so I will be your masseur for this evening. May I escort you to your massaging room?"

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Hinata knocked on the ornately detailed wooden door before slowly opening it. She quickly entered the room, closing the door behind her. Kiba was already in the room, folding robes and placing out lotions. He looked to her and nodded before leaving. Hinata bowed gently, before saying, "Hello, Raikage-sama. I am your masseur for tonight, Hinata-san. Have I kept you waiting? I apologize and thank you for your patience."

The Raikage was lying on the massage futon, his hands behind his head, one leg propped up above the other. As he heard Hinata's voice, he pushed himself up on his elbows to observe. He stared at the woman before him, his mouth strained from his position. Hinata observed the man, surprised. She half-expected an old bulky man with unruly hair and huge melon-sized muscles to be the kage of the lightning village. This man looked to be in his high thirties. His skin was tight and smooth like new leather, and was a light bronze color. He did have a lot of muscle, and his hair was light and swept back, his eyes were sharp and strikingly gold. He had large but attractive scars spread over a portion of his torso and arm, and tattoos that curled around his neck to decorate his other arm. In short, he looked like a real Kage.

"Well, hello there. Nope, I haven't been waiting. In fact I just been here for five minutes." His voice was deep and distinguishable. He sounded like a Kage too.

Hinata smiled and shyly tangled up her fingers. "Oh. I'm glad. I was afraid that things would go off schedule. Is there anything you would like to enjoy before your massage?"

The Raikage sat up straight and looked up thoughtfully. "Well. Warm sake sounds nice. And some sliced pork with chili salt. Oh, and a bowl of rice soaking in barley tea. That stuff's the best."

Hinata laughed bowed again. "I'll request for someone to fetch those for you immediately. Meanwhile, is there any massage you have in mind, Raikage-sama?"

He didn't know any massages so after Hinata alerted a maid to bring food she spent ten minutes explaining the different massages and their effects. The Raikage was very interested and nodded wisely whenever she got through explaining a type of massage. Just after she finished explaining and the kage lay belly-down on the massaging table, requesting a shiatsu and deep muscle massage, Neji came in holding a decorated box containing the foods. He placed the items in front of the Raikage. Immediately the buff man reached out a thick arm and began eating the food with his fingers. There was a way he ate that made his eating seem polite, a strange feat. Neji offered him chopsticks, which he turned away. The Raikage made eye contact with the Byakugan user and cried out.

"Ah! Your eyes!" He turned to Hinata behind and cried out again. "Your eyes are the same!"

"Yes sir. We are part of the Hyuga clan. The Byakugan clan," Neji said.

"I think I've heard of that clan. The Sharinghan developed from Byakugan roots, right? So are you siblings?"

"Cousins, sir."

"Oh, cousins. You know, I'm also part of a clan that deals with eyes. See my eyes? Lightning-based clan. Does your clan use an element?"

"No sir, we specialize in vision and chakra techniques. Raikage-sama, it's best not to be eating during a massage..."

"Oh it's fine, it's fine. Just give me the massage and I'll deal with the consequences later. So tell me about your clan. What are the techniques you use?"

All throughout the session the kage wouldn't stop talking. It made Hinata wonder if the Raikage really came just to eat and talk instead of a massage. She struggled to hold in laughs as solemn Neji, peeved and polite, forced to himself to be pleasant while the kage demanded him to activate Byakugan and describe to him in great detail everything he could see for the third time.

The massage was over and the kage lifted himself off the table. He stretched, groaning with the painfully refreshing feeling of his molded muscles.

"Ah, that was a good massage. Makes me feel like one reborn." He stretched again and looked at Hinata. "So you are Hinata. Hyuga Hinata."

"Yes."

The Raikage flashed a bright, gleaming white smile. "Okay. I'll be remembering your name. That was a good massage." He stretched a third time and got up off the futon, snatching up his slipping towel just in time. He saw Hinata's sudden shock and laughed out loud. "I'm sorry. Didn't mean to."

Hinata nodded numbly and went to go get a robe. Beside her, Neji glowered with annoyance. This man certainly seemed too boldly playful for someone as shy and timid as his cousin. The Raikage noticed Neji's irritation and laughed even harder.

"I'm sorry if I may have offended you. Gotta learn to remember to pay attention when I'm relaxed."

Neji frowned. "Raikage-sama, its preferable if you would wrap the towel around yourself instead of just holding it...there. My cousin doesn't take very easily to seeing...hind sides."

"Oh. Oh sure."

Hinata appeared carrying a robe. She approached the kage and immediately stopped, feeling intimidation flood throughout her. The man was a full head taller than Neji. Which made her come up to an inch below his shoulder. The kage took the robe and stepped back when Hinata reached out to help.

"Best to stay away from me, girl. I contain a lot of static."

The kage adjusted the robe and tied the sash. When he was done, he gave a huge grin to both Hyugas and slammed a hand on their shoulders, not noticing when he sparked them. He lead them out the door and towards the entrance.

"This was an awesome night!" he declared. "This was fun! I like you guys. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow! Didn't you say there was another masseur? Well, forget about them. I rarely meet people who are able to talk to me so openly and honestly. I love it. Yes I do."

The Raikage shoved on his slippers and began leaving the bathhouse in just his robe. Hinata was alerted.

"Wait, Raikage-sama! I'll go fetch your clothes right away! Please just wait here a minute!"

"No, no! I'll be coming back tomorrow anyway! Leave them be, wherever they are!"

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Usually Hinata was one of the workers who left the latest because her massage sessions were arranged later into the night. But since that day involved two kages, including one who enjoyed huge feasts, the employees all ended their work the same time she did. Hinata knew that Gaara would be waiting for her further out into the street to avoid the large crowds of employees.

Neji, Hinata and Deidara walked together out of the bathhouse, and a ways out into the street. Neji was griping about the Raikage's constant need for description.

"He asks for details that are so insignificant," he growled. "'Oh, what is the color of the vine flower that you are focused on right now?' 'It's a purple shade with a white center.' 'What kind of purple? Is it royal purple? How does the center blend into the purple? Is it abrupt, or mixed? Is te white a pure white, or a type of cream?' What kind of questions are those? Is he a botanist? A flower is a flower! Why all the fuss? He can go see for himself!"

Hinata laughed. She saw Gaara in the distance and waved to show her approaching presence.

"Don't be too mad, Neji-nii-san," she said, a playful grin on her face.

"I'm not mad!" he fumed.

Deidara guffawed. "Look how far he's taking it up the ass!" they both laughed while Neji turned red.

"What?"

"Look at his face! Filled with joy!" Deidara honked out a final laugh and left with a goodbye.

Neji scoffed and turned away. "That guy...hmpf."

"Speaking of Deidara-kun, I didn't get to talk to him at all during work today. Since he goes your route, can you tell him hi for me in the mornings if you see him? Please, nii-san?"

"No."

"Okay, thanks!"

Hinata approached Gaara and her smile slightly fell, remembering what Sakura told her. "So...how was your massage?"

Gaara got up off the wall and watched the employees leave the bathhouse. "It was pretty good. She has skill, like you."

"Yes, she really does..."

"But I feel that it would take a while to get used to her. You were easy to get used to."

Hinata's lips lifted slightly. "Oh."

Gaara continued to watch something behind Hinata. She turned around to see who she was looking at. Amid the workers leaving together in groups, there was Sakura, walking by herself into the dark. Hinata turned back to Gaara. Hinata noticed he had a small crease between his eyes, a habit she observed that indicated his concern.

"Does she usually walk home by herself?"

Hinata turned back around to look at Sakura. "I don't really know. I never really saw her leave the bathhouse."

Gaara's eyes didn't leave the pink-haired woman.

"Hm. Let's leave."

* * *

Hinata stared at Gaara through the mirror. He simply lay on top of his covers in a black tank and sweatpants, a seemingly innocent set of pajamas. She wondered if he was aware of his looks.

She carefully climbed onto her own bed and slid the covers over her. She heard the sound of his head turning on the pillow to look at her, so she looked back at him. His bed squeaked slightly as he lifted himself to turn off his light.

"So, you and Deidara are pretty close."

"We're good friends. He is closer to me than my little sister. A-almost like a brother."

"A brother. What about that cousin of yours?"

"Neji? Well...he's much nicer than h-he was before. At the exams. But he's still frightening sometimes."

"How is...Deidara like a brother to you?"

"Um...we talk a lot. We know a lot about each other's personalities...what he likes and dislikes. We get into small arguments when working together sometimes. But they are nothing bad."

"Hm."

"Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering."

"A-are you and Kankuro close?"

"...Yes."

"You and Temari?"

"Yes."

Hinata grinned. "I noticed the three of you quite resemble each other."

Gaara turned his head sharply. "What?"

She looked at him, smiling. "Well, there is this grin you three share when amused. It's like a smirk. Only the right side of your mouth goes up and you huff."

She collapsed into giggles. Gaara was dumbfounded.

"A-and, all of you are leaders i-in your chosen professions. Good leaders. It doesn't matter who. W-when you, or Kankuro-san, or Temari-chan talks to a crowd, e-everyone just quiets down and listens."

Hinata looked up at the ceiling. "My whole life my father tried to make me like that. Into a leader. But..."

When she didn't continue, Gaara glanced at her. She had fallen asleep.

* * *

**So, this is the edit of chapter eight. I hope you like it! I was so surprised how my description of the Raikage was similar to the actual Raikage that Kishimoto had in mind. Oooohohohohoh  
**


	9. Sliced

_****__**The Therapist**____**  
**____Chapter Nine_

******o o o o o o o o o o**

Hello, I love all my supporters (': it makes me feel so guilty that I made you guys wait so long for this chapter. All of your reviews really, _REALLY_ made me happy. And they still do. And in compensation of the spicy chapter I've promised yesterday, hopefully this will make up for your waiting. (:

And to document this just in case of look-back memories:** Today, April 03, 2009 at 7:43**

And now, while I am enjoying In-n-out, animal fries, cold bowl noodle, dried apricots, an onion bagel and a chocolate chip cookie for dinner, enjoy. (:

- Reedited on Sunday, 12/12/10 from 11 p.m. - 5:28 a.m.! Yes, it is 5:28 a.m. right now! This is the old chapter ten since I combined the old eight and nine together.

* * *

Hinata ran up the courtyard and into the front entrance, yanking her socks onto her feet and tying her hair into a bun. She was late. Hopefully no one would notice she was three minutes off. Upon entering the main bathing room her eye caught Deidara climbing high up in the branches of the massive tree, staring very intently at an object hidden between the leaves.

"Deidara-kun!" She waved rigorously. Deidara turned at the sound of his name and flashed a huge grin at the sight of Hinata. Stopping before the trunk to tie her sash tightly, she found a secure foothold before swiftly climbing up the trunk to where Deidara was. Settling herself comfortably on the branch beside him, she asked what he was looking for. Deidara wriggled close to her, a grin overtaking his face. "You won't believe what I found!"

"Hinata!"

Both Hinata and Deidara turned to see who called. Sakura was holding a bottle in her hands and approaching them from a branch that was accessible from the balcony. She hesitated when she observed the close proximity between them. Hinata followed her stare and, understanding immediately what Sakura was thinking, bolted onto her feet and approached her.

"Did you need my help, Sakura-san?" Hinata said.

"Well..." Sakura looked towards Deidara and turned her gaze slowly back to Hinata. "I need help opening this bottle."

Hinata took the bottle from Sakura's hands and attempted to open it. A fresh layer of oil was on the cap, making it difficult to grab. Hinata tried using her shirt to hold the cap. "This bottle must be leaking. You should use a new one and give this to Kankuro-san to deal with," she said, grabbing the cap.

"It's the only bottle of this oil left."

No one said anything for a few moments while Hinata attempted to open the bottle. Sakura swept back her pink hair and cleared her throat. "So...we happen to be the only ones who have massaged Gaara-kun, correct?"

Her hands were slipping and sliding on the bottle. "Yes. I think so."

"Is he a frequent customer?"

Palms greasy with oil, she bruised them trying to secure a hold on the cap. "Whenever he is in Konoha. Yes."

"And you and Gaara-kun are close."

Green eyes were watching the muscles in pale hands straining. "I guess. Why?"

Sakura breathed a contented sigh and chuckled slightly. "Special Service."

"Excuse me? I still...am not...aware of what that is." Hinata's teeth gritted. Sores were forming on her hands.

Green eyes were now watching lavender eyes. With her voice lowered, Sakura murmured, "Oh? Well. Your Kazekage. He is really gorgeous, don't you think. It would be quite an honor for one of us to give him that Special Service..."

There was a sharp pop and the bottle opened, the cracked cap cutting into Hinata's palm. Blood painted an unsteady line down her wrist but her jaw remained clenched. "It's opened," she said in a monotone voice.

"Did you hurt yourself?" Sakura pulled out a handkerchief and reached for Hinata's hand. "Allow me."

"No, thank you," Hinata replied, drawing away from Sakura's hand. "It's just a cut."

"Give me your hand," Sakura instructed. She grabbed Hinata's wrist tightly and wiped away all the blood in one clean stroke. "You gotta be more careful with these simple things."

Hinata felt herself hardening slightly. "Thank you," she repeated. She pulled her hand from Sakura's grasp. "I'll be starting work now. You should too."

Sakura cocked her head. "But your hands. Would you be able to work tonight?"

Examining her sore hands, Hinata didn't answer. She could if she wanted to, it wasn't that bad, but the Raikage had a tough, rock-solid muscle structure, it would hurt...

As if reading her mind, Sakura added, "For tonight, we can switch services for the kages. You might injure your hands further if you massage a sturdy man like the Raikage. He also seems to have an adverse effect on your mood—"

Raising her head up sharply, Hinata defiantly replied, "It's not like that."

"But I can tell. You and Gaara-kun prefer each other. As customer, as masseur."

Several yards back, Deidara stood in a close-mouthed silence. Hinata felt heat creep up into her cheeks, but whether it was from embarrassment or anger, she knew not. She clenched and unclenched her toes within their socks.

"May we discuss this later, Sakura."

The said woman shrugged and walked off, casually twirling her handkerchief soiled with Hinata's blood. Hinata swiftly returned to Deidara and frowned. "I'm sorry about that, Deidara. She was talking to me about the services we are doing."

Deidara looked doubtful. He was watching the bobbing pink hair retreat further down the bathing room. "___Are_you and Gaara close?"

Well...Gaara-kun and I are only friends. Wasn't there something you wanted to show me?"

Deidara carefully opened up his cupped hands in front of her. Inside was a tiny bird's nest, with several eggs inside. Hinata gasped with delight.

"It's a kingfisher's nest. And the mother doesn't even care when I rearrange the eggs on her nest or something, hm. Let's each paint an egg, yeah?"

"Okay!"

The two settled down comfortably on the wood while Deidara placed the nest into a crack and dug out a tube of paint from his pocket. "Let's write our names on the eggs, hm!"

"And when they hatch we will each have a bird named after us!" Hinata added gleefully. Deidara squeezed out a small blob of paint, took the end of his sas and, dipped it into the blob to began painting his name on the shell with beautifully smooth kanji letters. Hinata's mouth dropped open and when Deidara offered his end of the sash to her, she refused.

"I can't. I don't have the practiced artist's hand like you do. It'll look terrible compared to yours," she sulked.

Deidara smiled gently. "Here, just hold the sash and I'll help you. It's not hard."

Hinata slowly grabbed the end of his sash and held up her egg. Deidara glanced into Hinata's eyes before placing his hands over hers. Her heart began to pound. He leaned in so that their faces were just three inches apart, with his bangs against her cheek. She suddenly felt a bit nervous about Deidara and the close contact between them.

"Hi...na...ta" he whispered out as he spelled her name. Hinata gulped. "You have such small hands, Hi-na-ta," he commented. His hands completely overlapped hers. Hinata noted that his hands were not soft like Gaara's, but rather a firm type of warmth, not uncomfortable. But it was close, he was too close. He looked up and smiled. They were now two inches apart. Hinata couldn't help but imagine that they would look like a kissing couple from a far enough distance.

"How's that look, Hinata?" His breath was on her lips. She immediately stumbled away from him and backed up three feet, her eyes blinking furiously, her heart palpitating.

"I-It's wonderfully done. Th-Thank you."

Deidara looked at Hinata in such a intense gaze that it made her stomach churn like a whirlpool. She shakily attempted to examine the details of her name on the egg.

"I-I really love it. E-Especially the way you added that cute little blossom at the end. I-I suppose since y-you're an artist calligraphy comes naturally to you too, h-haha..."

Deidara just continued watching her. When no response came she added, "I th-think I'll still keep the egg even when it hatches. Pity that it'll have to break the beauty outside if the beauty inside has to come out."

"In this case that's not necessary," Deidara murmured. "There are those who are beautiful both inside and out without breaking anything. Hinata is one of them."

Hinata forced a laugh. "H-How deep, Dei-kun...u-unfortunately this little baby Hinata has no choice..."

"I wasn't talking about the bird."

Hinata choked for a moment and her face turned bright red. "W-w-w-what? W-w-who else could you p-p-possibly be r-r-referring to then?"

Deidara broke the eye contact and stared at his egg, his hands still in the position when Hinata's filled them. Hinata stopped talking. _Why is Deidara acting so weird, s_he wondered.

"I better get to work now," she said quietly. Hinata walked swiftly across the branch and jumped onto the second floor balcony, leaving the artist to turn and watch her disappear out of his view.

******o o o o o o o o o o**

Early into the evening, Hinata was instructed to feed the koi pond and light the candles and lanterns in the bathhouse's garden entrance. Exiting the bathhouse with a large bucket of feed in one hand and a scoop in the other, she was grateful Shino had assigned her to outdoor jobs all day; the previous encounter with Deidara had genuinely baffled her a bit. She approached the pond's edge and threw a scoop of food into the water. The large koi immediately began sucking in the food, sending vigorous ripples throughout the pond.

Hinata's hand throbbed and she winced and looked at her hand. The sore spots had blossomed into sensitive red blisters and surrounded the jagged cut that was directly in the center of her palm. Though she had wrapped a bandage around her hand there were small spots of blood that were becoming apparent in the cloth. She would have to re-wrap her hand soon. Ignoring the pain, she tossed food in the water mechanically. She was soon preoccupied with the patterns on the water's surface. What was that in the water? Was that a silhouette?

_Clack. Clack. CLACK._

Hinata swiftly spun around, swinging the scoop at the air behind her. She held the scoop like a weapon, activated her Byakugan and scanned the area slowly, twice. Seeing nothing, she relaxed and lowered the scoop. She thought she had seen in the water the reflection of a man about to grab her, a man in a trench coat...She sighed, shoved the scoop into the bucket and struck a match against a rock to light the bowls of candles floating on the water. Her eyes widened. There _was _a man standing behind her! She reflexed, shooting a backlash elbow at the person. A hand caught her elbow and another grabbed her other wrist firmly. She shrieked, struggling to escape.

"Calm down, it's just me," a voice muttered. Hinata stopped struggling and sighed with relief. Gaara was standing behind her, dressed in simple black attire. He was smirking.

"Gaara-sama! You scared me!"

"Because you saw my face. And it gave you nightmares." He tried to make a scary face but unfortunately still looked the same.

Hinata laughed. "Gaara-sama, there's still thirty minutes before you're due. What brings you here early?"

"To say hello."

"By scaring me half to death." She meant it as a joke.

Gaara reached for a handful of fish food, his expression somewhat withdrawn. He tossed the food into the water. "I apologize. It is in my nature to do that unintentionally."

Hinata felt her face fall immediately. She blushed from embarrassment and quickly bowed. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean it l-like t-that..."

"I know. I understand." Gaara snuffed, watching Hinata's face with amusement. ___Suna sibling smile__, _she couldn't help but think. She smiled warmly at him. He paused slightly when she did this. "Wait a moment here," he said.

Hinata watched Gaara enter the bathhouse, hearing the customary cheerful greetings from Ino. While she lit the lanterns large groups of people entered the bathhouse garden, laughing and chattering happily. Smiling, she bowed low to all who took notice of her. Hinata overheard one man saying to Ino,"We're here for the Raikage's banquet."

___Raikage's banquet? _She wondered. ___It must be a big one now. There's so many people here already. ...Doesn't that mean most of the workers would be serving him? Shouldn't I be helping out...__?_

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting," a stoic voice said. "Let's go inside."

Gaara walked along with the wave of people entering the bathhouse. Hinata attempted to follow but was cut behind and blocked by groups of people. Seeing her difficulty, he pulled her to his side and placed a hand on the small of her back to help her into the bathhouse. Hinata blushed and looked down. The strange feeling she felt earlier in the day was resurfacing.

Ino was busy greeting every customer as they made their way in through the door. When she spotted Gaara and Hinata, her mouth fell open wide. What was this! The Kazekage has his hand on Hinata's back? She jumped off her podium and approached the two, trying not to make obvious her eagerness but failing anyway.

"Gaara-sama!" Her voice came out as an excited squeak. She cleared her throat. "Ahem. Gaara-sama, I am sorry, the veranda you usually reserve has already been taken by the Raikage-sama," she resumed in a low voice. "He planned a large feast and basically invited half the town. May I suggest a dinner in more private quarters or a bath?"

Ino turned towards Hinata, but it was very hard to miss the raging curiosity behind Ino's eyes when she lingered on the contact between her and Gaara. Hinata blushed once more and avoided Ino's gaze.

The Kazekage looked at Hinata for a moment. "If there's any available spa suite then I would like to use it."

"I'll guide you there," Hinata said quickly. She wanted to get away from Ino's overly sparkly eyes. She led Gaara past the main bathing room into the suite hallways, walking so fast that he returned his hand to his side. Fortunately, all but one were reserved for the Raikage. However the noise of the party from the other suites reverberated within the walls, vibrating the floor with its rumble. After contemplating for a moment Gaara headed back to the main room into a regular bath while Hinata walked beside him on the torch-lit stone path. He entered the bath and began pulling off his shirt. Hinata immediately left the bath section to give him privacy, recalling Sakura's words from earlier in the morning.

"I'll bring you dinner and some spa supplies, Gaara-sama," she said. Gaara simply nodded and closed the screen between them. Hinata jogged upstairs to the kitchen where all of her friends were swarming in and out with plates filled with food and desserts. She tried to look for someone who wasn't busy, so that she could take some food to Gaara.

"Excuse me," she called. "I need – oof!" A tray containing rice balls, sashimi and sweet green tea was shoved into her stomach. Deciding that was her best chance she hurried out of the kitchen to catch the elevator. She noticed someone following closely alongside her; it was Deidara.

"Hey, Hina-chan," he said excitedly. "Are you helping out with the Raikage's banquet? Cause it's HUUUUUGE, HM! You should see everything he ordered!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, why aren't you helping out?"

"I'd like to..." Which wasn't quite the truth.

"Oh...Gaara again?"

"Gaara-sama," she corrected gently.

"He seems to enjoy taking you away from your other duties all the time."

"It's only for several days every one or two months, Dei-kun. And besides, he is my duty."

"Hmph. Well, guess what! My birthday is in exactly four weeks, hm! You are invited to whatever I am planning to do! And make sure you don't have any _duty_ that will keep you from it, okay? Hm!"

******o o o o o o o o o o**

Gaara was in a towel slip and had his legs in the water when Hinata entered the bath. She set the wooden tray down beside him and fished out bottles of soap and lotion from her pockets. She chose a bottle and winced while attempting to open it. Gaara spotted her bandages and reached for her hands. He unwrapped them and sighed when he saw the injuries. In one swipe he healed the blisters and the cut with his thumb.

"You hurt your hand again?" he said, bemused. "What was that Leaf nin motto...'Konoha ninja don't fall for the same thing twice?' Why do you keep getting cut?"

Hinata avoided his gaze and opened the bottle. "I'm a masseur," she replied smugly.

_As if that has anything to do with it, _Gaara thought. A corner of his mouth lifted as he reached for the mug of green tea. He slid down into the water and sat, sipping more tea. Hinata immediately stood up to give him privacy. As Hinata closed the screen behind her he burned his lips in shock, frozen at the thought that she was leaving.

"Wait, come back," he called.

"Yes sir," her tiny voice replied. He wiped his lips and watched as she promptly returned to kneel by the bath, her posture held dutifully.

Gaara stood up to his full height. He waded through the water towards her, ignoring the tray of food. He paused in front of her. Despite his being in a bath he was still at eye-level with her. He held out a soap and Hinata realized that he wanted to be washed. Around his neck was a long cleansing cloth. Unraveling it from his neck she took the bottle of soap from him and poured it onto the cloth, creating suds. She scrubbed one arm and the other carefully. Sakura's words banged against the insides of her brain. She wondered what Sakura meant about Gaara being handsome. _Sure, his body looks nice,_ she thought. _But it's just another normal man's body. Nothing to make me stop in my tracks like the other women...unless... something's wrong with me? _She froze momentarily at the thought.

Gaara took that as a cue from her to wash his face. He knelt in the water and turned around to rest the back of his head against her knee. Hinata hesitated once more. Biting her lip nervously, and slowly cupped Gaara's chin to lift his head. She couldn't help but focus on his lips as she gently cleansed his face with soap and water, using soft daubs of a towel to wipe away the drops. His eyes opened slightly and they looked up at her, calm but careful.

Her own eyes were half-closed when she was done, trying to recognize that strange insistent feeling she had been experiencing all day. Why did she simultaneously feel so useful and like a failure with him? She felt unworthy of his presence. She began to withdraw her hand when to her surprise Gaara pressed it back onto his cheek, prompting it to stay there with his own. Her eyes popped open. Pale eyes locked in eye contact and Hinata's heart began to beat in a pleasantly unfamiliar way; she was stunned. His wet hair was soaking through the fabric of her knee, warm water from the hot spring. He examined her with his brow slightly creased, as if he had found something baffling about her. His other hand slowly reached out to brush back the strands of hair that were covering her face...

Suddenly the screen was pushed over and Naruto ran in panting. Hinata jerked her hand away and instantly bolted up, fidgety from shock.

"H-Hinata," he breathed. "Raikage...called you...fifteen minutes ago...drunk..."

Flushed, Hinata somehow got the point and immediately ran out of the bathing section with Naruto, leaving Gaara standing shocked and isolated in the steaming spring water.

******o o o o o o o o o o**

"Where the hell is she? -___Hic__- _I want my goddamn massage before I get my goddamn hangover! -___Hic__- Hey you, bring me a_nother bottle of sake," shouted the Raikage, his voice the loudest amongst the other calling voices.

A line of employees were lined up against the wall, their hands itching to clean up the messy table. The kage had already broken five large dishes and twenty sake bottles. Plates of food were crowded and piled precariously atop one another. Another slam of the table and the whole thing could come smashing down, meaning three weeks of punishment. Lee was one of the employees waiting anxiously; the table jumped once more and he saved a pile of large dishes from shattering by diving beneath them before they hit the floor.

"_Hey!_" The Raikage yelled. "What're you doing?"

"We must clear the table so new dishes can come in," Sai said from his place on the wall.

"And the old ones must be washed," Deidara added.

"To hell with that! Just leave -___hic_- the damn -___hic__- stuff_ on the table and bring more of that special sake already!" boomed the Raikage.

"The cook says to please wait two more minutes, the sake will be ready by then," Temari said, but the kage just slammed his fist into the table once more, sending empty bottles and chopsticks scattering.

"Ten f—king minutes? Does it look like I have all the time in the world? Two minutes is the time is takes me to get everyone in the bingo book to kiss my ass, on both the cheeks! Oooouurrrrggghhh!" The Raikage roared out a burp and another dish slipped and shattered on the floor.

Chouji ran into the room, balancing two trays of chilled sake bottles. "Here's your sake," he wheezed breathlessly.

"FINALLY, you brought it. Hand it over."

The sake was splashed into cups and passed around. The guests toasted and gulped down their share. Just then, Hinata made it into the room. Appalled at the mess, she cautiously joined the other employees who were pinned against the wall. Deidara glanced at her and cleared his throat. "Raikage-sama, Hinata has arrived," he called.

The Raikage turned to Hinata and smiled hugely, his cheeks like dark blooms. He rose himself unsteadily out of the chair and drunkenly stumbled around the table, collecting the sake bottles from his guests.

"-___Hic_- Everyone. Back in the day, when I was a strapping young lad," the Raikage announced, his words slurred, "I could juggle trays of sake bottles without breaking a single one."

He clumsily dropped the bottles into three trays. "This is the first time in years I have returned to this trick. It really is a spectacular show. And in gratitude of -_hic__- Miss_ Hinata, for giving me the most glorious massage, I present this show to her. She's the _-____hic__- lady_ with the lovely eyes. Come here, come! Come!"

Guests and employees turned alike and stared at Hinata as she shyly stepped towards the Raikage, causing her to blush deeply with embarrassment. Deidara scowled at the Raikage, his mouth forming a solemn, dark frown.

The Raikage gathered up the trays and stumbled towards Hinata. He held them triumphantly in his arms, his whole pose a superhero stance. He tossed the trays into the air and watched as they accelerated into the air. Then he watched them fall down. Every single bottle exploded into a sphere of shards. With a cry that contained utter shock, Hinata threw up her arms and tried to shield herself from the glass that flew everywhere, embedding themselves into her skin.

Amidst the employees' shocked gasps of horror, the Raikage's guests cheered and stood up in their chairs, clapping and laughing raucously. A drunken man held up three bottles he was holding to juggle them as well, but he stumbled, tripped and bumped into Hinata. She was thrown against the table and into the pool of alcohol-drenched crystal. The force caused the dishes to slip and crash down on her from their precarious position atop the table. She whimpered from pain, blood dripping from her entire body. The smell of beer, sake and blood was everywhere and she was feeling dizzy. Her vision grew fuzzy and eventually darkened.

"Hinata!" Kiba, Deidara, Sakura and Naruto detached themselves from the crowd and surrounded her, protecting her from further harm. Deidara lifted her pale body from the puddle of glass and ran into the hallway, a group following behind him. He gently set her onto the floor and the crowd surrounded them, gasping out words of shock. Sakura knelt beside Hinata and immediately began to pull out the bloody glass embedded in her flesh.

Temari knelt beside the Hinata and join Sakura in removing the shards. Alcohol moistened her fingers and blood leaked from each wound. Though Hinata was unconscious, tears still dripped out of her eyes. Temari rubbed her unharmed shoulder reassuringly while pulling out the loosest shards. A hand extended a towel and Sakura took it, wiping the alcohol from the wounds. Kankuro pushed into the crowd and crouched beside his sister, looking down at Hinata. He blinked twice before a hard expression set his face and he cast a look at the Raikage, who was just beginning to become aware of what had happened.

He cleared his throat and addressed the crowd in his most authoritative voice. "Naruto, get Neji. Kiba, bring first aid, bandages and scissors. Sai, alert Shikamaru and Shino about this and have them find medicines. The rest of you clean up the mess and calm things down here, and inform the Matriarch if things aren't in check. You there, find some loose clothes that she could wear, she needs minimal contact from her wounds as much as possible right now. Deidara, stay where you are," Kankuro warned, as he gingerly lifted up Hinata's mangled body.

Deidara stared desperately at his friend. His heart was pounded madly in his chest and anger burned in his eyes. He turned and glared at the Raikage so maliciously that the ninja immediately sobered. The blonde decided to ignore Kankuro's order and stepped in front of him.

"Deidara, when I said to stay outta my way, I mean for you to stay the hell out of my way," Kankuro growled.

"I'll carry her to a safe place. You are in the best position to inform your brother that he doesn't have a masseur tonight," Deidara responded coldly. Kankuro considered for a second before slipping Hinata into Deidara's arms.

******o o o o o o o o o o**

Gaara emerged from his bath, steaming and tying his sash around his plain black kimono and contemplating his time with Hinata later. Deep in daydream about the conversation he imagined he would have with her, it was a while before he noticed employees run by worriedly. Some of them had blood on their uniforms. His eyes grew alert and his senses automatically sharpened. There was quite a number of workers running around, many of them clustering at a certain hallway to stop, point and stare at something. He closed his eyes and distinguished the weak but definite metallic scent of blood. He increased chakra to his ears. He roughly grabbed a passing employee's arm and spun them around, glaring into their eyes. It was Kiba, with his medical supplies.

"Hinata. What happened to her?" he demanded. His demeanor made Kiba want to flinch in terror.

"The Raikage's party got a bit outrageous and Hinata was hurt pretty bad," Kiba replied breathlessly.

"_How?_" Gaara tightened his grip on Kiba.

Kiba winced and struggled to get his arm out of the grip. "The Raikage shattered bottles and Hinata was knocked into the glass!" he said exasperatingly. "Now if you don't mind, I have the first aid and bandages for her so she won't lose any more blood than necessary."

Kiba yanked his arm out of the kage's grip and sprinted down the hall. Gaara rushed after him and spotted Temari's familiar hairstyle through the mass of people.

The two men shoved through the crowd surrounding Hinata. Gaara became highly annoyed when the workers actually dared to defy him for the sake of their better viewing. He was hearing nothing but the same "it looks bad."

"If it looks bad, then why not do something about it?" he muttered angrily to himself. He glared at select people and they quickly moved aside to let him get through to his sister. Then he heard the topic of conversation change...to none other than himself.

"Hey, isn't that the Kazekage?" A female voice whispered.

"Hey, it is! Why's he looking for Hinata?"

"He's her customer. She's such a lucky dog."

"He's so good-looking. She must love it whenever she does business with him."

"Well then, thank Kami she's injured beyond working point. We can offer to be his masseurs!" Several voices squealed.

The Kazekage jerked his head around and stared with burning malice at the sources of the voices. Allowing a resurgence into his dreadfully terrifying persona, the previous demon vessel slowly stood up to full height. His blood-red hair, paired with the black circles around his pale eyes, made him look like a murderer sent straight from the depths of hell.

"Leave. _NOW__,_" he snarled through clenched teeth. The crowd immediately dispersed and scattered off to their respective duties. Through the bumping crowd, Gaara was able to catch small glimpses: slashed bloodstained legs, Neji wiping away liquid, Shikamaru smearing a brown liquid on the wounds and Shino applying paste to them, Temari pulling out glass, Kiba wrapping bandages. The Matriarch was also there, giving orders to clean the area. And...and that Deidara guy, cradling her in a way that was ___not_brotherly.

Suddenly a bob of pink hair ran up to the group and knelt beside them. He heard a new voice say, "Here, let me pull out the glass in the more serious injuries. I'm a medic, I can heal her."

Then Kankuro blocked his view. "Gaara," he said grimly. "Most of her body is deeply cut by glass. The rest is bruised. It's possible that she won't be in work for a while, especially in massage."

"I don't care about the massages." Gaara tried to push past his brother to Hinata when the sounds of glass dropping on wood was heard. The pink-haired woman was pulling out glass and stopping the blood at the same time; the others were watching her cautiously and contemptuously.

Kankuro glanced behind him and saw who was helping Hinata. He turned back to his brother and steered him towards the sauna rooms.

"Gaar, go to the saunas. That girl's a medic-nin. Hinata should be fine in a matter of minutes."

"I can't just leave her like this!"

"Gaara. I bet that at this very moment word is spreading that a kage has seriously injured Hinata. Unless you don't care about your reputation, right now's a very bad time for you to be seen around her. Now go wait at the saunas. I'll send you an update on her situation. " Kankuro firmly pushed his brother into the same direction again. Gaara complied, but not before looking behind his shoulder to glare at the long-haired blonde man who was holding her. He glanced at the pink-haired woman, memorized her face within a matter of seconds, then turned around and strode away, blends of emotions reacting violently in his stomach.

******o o o o o o o o o o**

Sakura quietly opened the door to the massage room and entered, closing the door behind her. She watched the black-clad figure sitting hunched against the edge of the table, his back to the entrance. Though he wasn't watching, Sakura bowed and proceeded to say,"Hello, Kazekage-sa—"

"How is Hinata? Where is she?" interrupted the rough voice.

"I was able to remove all of the glass from Hinata-san's skin and heal most of her bruises, though I did not have enough chakra for her cuts."

"She should be fine then. Send her over."

"Well..."

"If she can't move, then tell me where she is. I'll go over there instead."

"She's lost a fair amount of blood. She is currently resting right now; enough blood was lost to make her very fatigued."

"Who did this to her?"

"The Raikage broke some dishes and a drunken individual pushed her into the mess."

Sakura watched the kage put a hand over his eyes. His shoulders were tense. "Thank you...for helping her."

Sakura approached the Kazekage and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Gaara-sama," she whispered, close enough to make the strands of his hair sway. "Just relax."

Gaara lay on the table but felt none of the massage. She sensuously knead the muscles of his back until she began going uncomfortably low; Hinata never did anything like that. Feeling wary, he pushed off the table and strode out of the room, disregarding Sakura's thoughts. Searching for Hinata was more important anyway. He didn't find her, but he did find his siblings and Deidara in the not-so-secret headquarters.

Before Gaara asked, Kankuro answered,"Hinata's at the hotel."

"Deidara carried her there," Temari said quietly.

Gaara stared at Deidara, who was at the sink scrubbing bloodstains out of his clothes. Deidara looked up from his cleaning just in time to see a spiral of sand disappearing into air. From the angle his face and gray eyes were at, the look could have passed off as a hateful glare.

* * *

Gaara shoved the key into the lock and twisted the metal slip impatiently. The door opened forcefully and green eyes appraised the room, which was empty save for the groans of pain coming from the bathroom.

******o o o o o o o o o o**

Hinata stumbled out of the shower, wincing as she arranged the large towel wrapped about her body. Though she had endured greater injuries in her ninja days, never had she had a shower so agonizing as the one she just took. It literally felt like fire when the water touched her skin; in fact, simply standing in one place was painful as well. Her lavender eyes teared up and she winced when the towel brushed three objects embedded in her hip. It was some glass shards Sakura had forgotten to pull out.

For once, Hinata was grateful that Sakura was there to help. She had healed the bruises, which really hurt, and taken out all but three pieces of glass, which also really hurt too. She even helped stitch up approximately seven areas of her skin. Her pale eyes lowered in sorrow as she compared herself to the ninja-and-masseur; Sakura was certainly much more attractive, social and talented than she. Not to mention charming and smooth. Hinata believed without hesitation that if Sakura hadn't committed her huge mistake, then there would be no such thing as a competition between them. Sakura would obviously win.

Speaking of Sakura, her previous actions infuriated Hinata. It scared her, for she was a woman of very little anger. But. Did Sakura only make her open that bottle that morning so it would be a painful night of work to massage the Raikage? And her comment. Her stupid comment. Did Sakura only care to massage Gaara because of his looks? Didn't she know he had such good intentions beneath his fierce exterior? Did Sakura notice the sideways glances that Gaara would give during a walk to check and see if he needed to defend anyone? The way he looked at his friends and focused purely on their good qualities and not their flaws? And her charisma too. Her naturally-occurring superiority also made Hinata feel insignificant, forcing her to climb for things that otherwise would have been easier to obtain.

___Fight to be the best_, Hinata thought viciously. Grabbing hold of the glass, she wiggled and tugged at it, yelling aloud in the process. Shikamaru had given her some medicine and it was doing things to her attitude like making her loose and too tired to care. She also recalled something about alcohol in her system through the cuts. Perhaps she was drunk.

She grabbed the shard and yanked. The only thing that came out was a nice deal of blood and a shriek. In frustration, Hinata used her only uninjured finger to push open the bathroom door. She looked up lazily when she saw Gaara standing there, appraising her in just the towel. Hinata clutched the towel with both hands and felt the flush of embarrassment overtake her whole being; thank goodness the towel was big enough. The sudden pulsing and stinging of her wounds seemed to intensify when she confirmed that Gaara's expression was not one of dissatisfaction, but rather apathetic approval. At least he didn't seem to care as she did. But all this was overshadowed by the muted shock in his eyes as they took in the jagged red slashes crisscrossing her face, her arms, the baby-soft skin of her wrists, and her legs.

Taking lazy steps, Hinata hobbled backwards as he approached her. He would step closer to her; she would step away from him. Several steps more, and she was trapped against the sink, her arm desperately searching for an empty space to backstep into. Her pale eyes were locked with Gaara's. The Kazekage gently gathered the strands of her hair, twisted it and clipped it above her head to expose the injured skin of her neck. He lifted his fingers and coaxed her searching arm to relax. Holding her arm gently, he ran his fingers over her wounds, healing them. First one arm, then the other.

Gaara internally cursed; the simple cuts were easily healed but the cuts where glass had to be removed were deeper than he expected and his healing ability was not strong enough to heal those injuries in one instant. It would require multiple sessions of treatment or the lingering of his touch in one area, which he was not comfortable doing.

Hinata's breath hitched. Gaara looked down, feeling a warmth spread around his foot. Her blood from the fresh wound had created a small puddle on the floor. He guided her into the shower, where the blood blended into the water-soaked tiles and ran down the drain. Green eyes looked up at the sound of shaky breathing. He looked at her, confirming, before slowly reaching his hand to unwrap the stained towel covering the shards in her hip. Her small hand grabbed his for a moment, resisting. Then it relaxed. Slowly she let his hand move back the towel and expose the bloody flesh of her hip. She squeezed her eyes shut and squeaked in pain as his deft fingers quickly removed the glass, then let out a sigh of relief when some of the pain was reduced.

Gaara kept his hand over her hip. He watched her face. Slowly he led his hand upward underneath the towel, the green chakra from his hand pressured against the contours of her body. Up the swell of her hip, through the graceful curve of her waist, past the collarbone, onto her cheek, healing slightly as it brushed over the skin. His hands tenderly sealed the shallow slashes of her cheeks. He rested his hands against her neck.

The whole time, Hinata had been staring at the tiled shower floor, watching her blood change opacity and shape in the water. Her heart was pounding heavily, her body felt a strange sort of internal tickle. Her cuts still stung badly, but the pain on the side of her body was appeased some. She looked up when Gaara stopped his healing at her neck. The way he gazed at her made her feel even dizzier, as if she was being sucked into his eyes. Her head churned. She felt her eyelids grow heavy and her breathing slower. For an instant, she felt awake and coherent when Gaara leaned in close enough so his breath was warm on her forehead.

The protected and reserved woman couldn't comprehend what on earth compelled her to be so tolerant of Gaara's hand so close to places unseen. She sensed he wouldn't do anything to her; he was simply looking after her. But who knew that his care would instill such complex feelings within her heart. She didn't draw from the hand of Gaara. And for reasons unknown Deidara's simple antic of painting with her hands was more unnerving than Gaara's healing of her body.

Reviewing the results of his healing, Gaara brought his face closer and closer to his Hinata's. His hands held her neck in place as he turned his head and placed his lips against her ear.

"What I noticed about you," he whispered, "is that you have a new injury at each of our meetings."

Slightly, very gently, he pressed his lips against a sickle-shaped cut below her ear. And when he pulled back, he discovered to his dismay that Hinata had already lost consciousness.

******o o o o o o o o o o**

Gaara stood by the window, occasionally looking over his shoulder to glimpse at the pale woman sleeping soundly between folds of blanket and towel; he didn't dare dress her out of her towel, couldn't imagine it. But as his aquamarine eyes was constantly drawn to her sleeping face, he couldn't help but wonder what had made Hinata fearless of _his_ actions, even if for healing. He had been visiting Temari and Kankuro earlier that morning and coincidentally saw Deidara and Hinata when they were painting the eggs in the treetop. He noticed she had become extremely flustered and uncomfortable with that blonde's close proximity. He had ninety-nine percent expected her to gasp and lock herself in the bathroom, rejecting his own advances to help her.

But what if she didn't reject him because she was scared of offending him? No. Her face expression said that much, at least. And also, he smirked softly to himself, neither the dreadful blonde nor Hinata knew that after the nest was replaced in its rightful branch, he himself took Hinata's egg and hid it somewhere else where they wouldn't find it.

Gaara settled himself gently onto the side of the bed. He nervously pulled the blanket up and tucked it under her chin. Raising his hand, Gaara gingerly touched his fingers to her face, an act he had wanted to do since earlier that night. He paused for a moment before leaning forward to brush his lips against her forehead, breathing in the smell of soap and antiseptic. Her skin felt like a baby's. He noticed when she slept, she looked like a baby. And acted clumsily like one too, at times. Then he was remembering the time she landed on him in the hot bath. He snuffed in amusement. She shifted.

Getting up, he went to lie on his bed with his normal black pajama attire. He turned on his side and watched over Hinata's sleeping form. Outside, an owl hooted.

* * *

Thursday  
April 09, 2009  
11:46 p.m.

**And. For those who I kept waiting. I hope this chapter thoroughly impressed you, made you happy!**

_Did I tell you guys just how happy the last reviews made me? :D_

**Planned to put Sasuke into this chapter, and the conclusion of Sakura/Hinata's competition.  
But look!  
Century Gothic, 7 pt, centimeter margins, and this stuff is 9 ½ effing pages long. Lol.**

**Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, have fun, reviews/fav/alert/msgs keep me going strong, goodbye, see you soon! :)**


	10. Spliced

_**The Therapist**  
Chapter Ten_

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Hey guys! :D

Friday, January 22, 2010, 3:42 a.m.

**REEDIT****: Dec 17, 2010 6:40 p.m.: **  
Hi everyone! Another update. Sorry it took so long, I was also writing a HidanTem fic and it shall be coming out shortly :3 I hope you read it. :3

And oh my damn. I restarted my computer just now and some weird roll-back happened. I lost my document of the therapist plot. I LOST THE DOCUMENT. OF THE WHOLE THERAPIST PLOT. HOLY CRAP. THAT THING HAD TWENTY PAGES OF STUFF I NEEDED FOR THE REST OF THIS STORY. WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO. WOE IS ME. WHAT TO DO?  
I really screwed up. I was actually writing the new chapter ten of this story in FF Doc's manager. BUT. I THOUGHT I SAVED IT ON MY COMPUTER. SO I DELETED IT WHEN CLEANING OUT MY DOC'S MANAGER. SO I HAVE TO REWRITE THE WHOLE DAMN THING LOLOL. DAMN. Oh well.

A notice, small parts of old ch.9 have been implemented into this chapter ten. But there's a lot more GaaHina. Hahah.

* * *

"Come here."

Hinata slowly approached the Matriarch from her place in front of the desk. Her injuries tingled with anticipation.

"Show me the areas where your body sustained damage."

Gulping, Hinata very reluctantly undid her tie and sash and exposed her injured skin; she looked down and felt nauseous. She turned her eyes away from the mess of mottled flesh, choosing instead to focus on the prim, red-robed lady that circled her with silent footsteps.

The Matriarch lifted her hand, which was glowing with green chakra, and placed it hand over one of the wounds. The chakra felt bubbly and warm.

Though the wound healed within a matter of seconds, Hinata saw that the ensuing scar made the Matriarch upset. She walked back to her desk while Hinata quickly yanked her clothes to correction again, knotting the tie and sash much harder than necessary.

"The shallow cuts shall heal nicely, but the deeper cuts will leave some scarring. It appears as though someone had tried to heal you; the wounds on your hip are mostly healed - but their chakra was not complex enough to prevent scarring. You will still need to pay attention to them. Do you remember who treat you?"

Hinata shook her head. "N-not that I recall, ma'am. ...My memory wasn't the best, because of Shikamaru's medicine..."

"Take this to Ino, and go purchase some petroleum jelly from a pharmacy." The Matriarch was holding out a glass bottle of clear liquid and some yen notes in her extended hand.

"T-thank you very much," Hinata said, taking the items and bowing deeply. The Matriarch uttered a small sound of compliance and kept her eyes to her work. Breathing deeply and lingering on the spot, Hinata tried to find the right words to say.

"M-Matriarch, it was very irresponsible of me to have put myself in s-such a dangerous situation, and I a-apologize that because of this I brought myself to a condition unsuitable f-fo-for adequate work a-and I hope—"

"It wasn't your fault." The Matriarch put down her pen and stared at Hinata. Her face was positively cringed with annoyance. "Who are you to think you can apologize for the Raikage? That _mutt"_—she hissed the word—"put one of my most valuable workers into a generous amount of harm! Which not only grants you marred skin, but also a loss of revenue for yourself yesterday, from the Kazekage!"

She shut her notebook loudly. "He wasn't satisfied with Sakura's service, and he didn't ask for it so he didn't pay for it! Why? Because the Raikage injured his favorite masseur, Hyuga Hinata, forcing her to spend productive nights in recovery! Why are you apologizing to me for something you didn't do? You know what to do with your apologies."

"I-I'm so—"

"Are you being ridiculous on purpose?"

"N-No—"

"I thought so. Now go to Ino. I'm waiting for the right person to come and apologize."

Hinata quickly ran out of the room and shut the door. She rolled onto the wall, eyes wide with bewilderment. How could her boss be so understanding yet so mean at the same time? She gasped when she heard the familiar raspy voice of the Raikage a small distance away; he was approaching the office. She swiftly turned and jumped onto a nearby branch, using the cover of the tree foliage to make her way to Ino's station.

"My poor Hina!" Ino cried when Hinata entered the aromatherapy station. "Come here!" She threw her arms around Hinata and wailed. "Are you badly hurt? Did you lose a lot of blood?"

"I'm okay, Ino. Really." Hinata smiled and patiently answered the hoard of questions Ino flung at her. When it appeared Ino wouldn't stop, Hinata lifted her hand and showed Ino the bottle.

"Did the Matriarch give you that?" she said. "Ah, why didn't you just say so? Follow me." Ino lead Hinata into her office and Hinata went inside, looking around. Typical of Ino, her office was covered in ribbons and posters of attractive men. But there were a lot of other objects too, like syringes and boiling wax that made the decorations look like they were there more for comfort than for interest.

Ino closed the door and reached for Hinata's arm. She lifted her friend's sleeve to her elbow, then gasped lightly. "My gosh. Your skin. It's all scars." Ino's hands were tremoring slightly as she stroked over Hinata's forearm. Hinata did not want to look.

"W-why, it's that bad?" she asked, attempting to sound nonchalant.

"It...It looks as if you were raped by a cactus!"

Hinata laughed feebly. But she knew Ino's description was very accurate. She could only imagine what her arm—no, what the left side of her body would look like, now that it was peppered with injuries.

"Hinata-chan, see this bottle?" Pale eyes turned to the bottle, the clear liquid inside swishing back and forth from Ino's hand.

"This is a scar remover. The Matriarch sends me this when she wants me to completely remove evidence of an injury," Ino said, eyeing Hinata's arm.

"It's very generous of her, she thinks very strongly about scars and believes they are a source of pain even after the wound is gone. So she provides this expensive scar remover to those who might need it. Also in sending me this, it means you'll have to spend the day recovering in the medicinal bath. Tell me, was your whole left side of the body harmed when you fell?"

"Yes. Especially my hip. Sakura forgot to remove glass there, but the Matriarch helped. According to her, someone else tried to treat it but I don't remember who."

"Hm." Ino turned around solemnly. "Now there's two ways to do this. You can mix this clear liquid with some petroleum jelly, or you can inject this directly into your skin. Using jelly will take at least three months for the scars to fade and it won't hurt. Syringes on the other hand, will fade the scar immediately. We can do the shots here right now. Which do you choose?" As she said this, Ino pulled out a large syringe, its needle glistening ominously in the light.

"Jelly!" Hinata yelped. She jumped off the table and ran out of the office, glancing behind her shoulder to make sure Ino wasn't chasing her. She absolutely hated shots. To her great relief, only Ino's laughter followed her throughout the halls.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Taking the chance to her advantage, Hinata brought along her wallet as she left the bathhouse to the pharmacy. Thanks to her work, her wallet was slowly filling up. She bought the petroleum jelly as duty demanded then quickly made her way to the market square, grinning mischievously.

On her nightly excursions to and from the hotel, she had passed by a certain jacket shop numerous times. Hanging in its window was a beautiful blue trench coat with silver buttons and a white dress. Seeing the clothes in the shop window, Hinata smile was joyful as she entered the shop to buy them. Her wallet was just about empty as she left, but there was still enough to survive till the next paycheck.

Back in the hotel Hinata brought the jelly to Ino, who promptly told her to undress from her shirt and pants so she could examine the scars. Hinata's face fell and she protested.

"Take it off or you'll be getting the shots," Ino said, untying Hinata's sash in one swift jerk. "I have to measure how much scar remover to put into the jelly. Waste not, want not."

Hinata suppressed a groan and complied. In a matter of seconds she was standing in the middle of the office in her underclothes, squirming from embarrassment. Ino observed Hinata's pale skin with a grimace as she stood there, but calculated liquid measurements out loud as she analyzed the scars. Her face turned surprised.

"Hey, what's the matter with your skin?"

Hinata muttered incomprehensibly, growing somewhat irritated. Yes, she was quite aware of her skin's monstrous state. No need to rub it in.

"There's a PATCH on your side." Ino pointed. She was having trouble suppressing giggles.

Hinata lifted her arm and looked down. True to Ino's observation, there was a clean streak of scarred skin right where she had sustained the most damage. She stared at her ribs and hip, mystified. Needless to say, it looked ridiculous.

"Well, whoever's chakra healed you has a good sealing ability, but poor scar-removing technique. Quite a unique combination in chakra capabilities."

Hinata half-smiled but said nothing. Ino cleared her throat. "Well, your jelly should be ready in seven hours. Right now, head immediately to the medicinal baths. It is in a hidden room, so find Temari first."

Hinata dressed quickly and left the room, blushing as she heard Ino burst into quiet giggles. Then she smiled.

_At least I made someone laugh. I wonder who healed me like that._

Leaning over the wooden railing of the second floor balcony, she quickly spotted the sandy-haired Temari barking orders several floors below. She seemed to feel Hinata's gaze and she looked straight up, meeting the pearly eyes. She waved an energetic greeting and leaped up to greet Hinata.

"Hey. How are you feeling?"

"I'm good. Ino is preparing medicine for me right now. May you take me to the medicinal baths?"

"Ah, yes. Come." Temari observed Hinata's skin from the corner of her eye as they walked together to the fourth floor. Leading Hinata back into the aromatherapy rooms, Temari stopped at a portrait on the wall. She pushed it aside. Behind it was a tunnel that ended with a sturdy wooden door with a steel lock. She punched numbers and letters into the lock and, with a grunt, pulled open the heavy door to reveal a ceramic tub that lay in the center of the wooden room. Approaching it, Temari pressed some buttons on a panel embedded onto the side of the tub and it began to fill with swirling hot water.

"Undress and go into the water. It will automatically stop when its filled." Hinata obliged. When her bare injured skin came into contact with the hot water, she hissed in pain.

Temari headed to a cabinet in the wall and pulled out a container of the fortification blend used for the hot springs. Next to that was a jug of yellow watery liquid. Setting the containers on the floor, she also pulled out a large beaker and glass stirring rod. Hinata watched as Temari spooned careful measurements of powder into the beaker. Then she poured half the bottle of yellow liquid into the beaker and mixed it with the rod. The resulting mixture was a peachy orange color.

"Temari-chan, what will that do?" Hinata asked, her eyes watering slightly from the stinging of her wounds.

Turning around, Temari gave her a solemn look. "Hinata. I have Suna blood, so I might hold some sort of bias against the physical endurance of Konoha girls. But I trust you will be tough enough to endure this. Alright?"

"W-what will that do to me?" Hinata tensed in the water. She felt nervous. Temari finished mixing the blend and brought the beaker of orange liquid to the tub. She opened a small shelf in the side and poured in all the contents as she spoke.

"This is a medicine that will disinfect your wounds and get rid of the alcohol that dangerously entered your system. In addition to detoxifying your other body systems as it enters your bloodstream, it will heal and fade your wounds. With very precise care, you'll leave with beautiful skin and good health. But it comes with the price of pain."

Lavender eyes widened. Hinata's hand was resting on the side of the tub and Temari grasped it.

"It will hurt," she said shortly.

True to her word, it did.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

"Is she okay?" Tenten asked Neji for the fifth time as he went into the room where Hinata lay, her breath hitching and her body shivering. Neji simply nodded and closed the door. Kneeling by his cousin's side, he watched her shockingly sallow face turn to face him.

"I-i-i-it h-hu-hurt-hurts..." she squeaked out.

"Shh. Everything will be alright," he said, placing a hand on her burning forehead. She cringed in pain.

The pain was so bad it was ridiculous. It had so many textures of feelings; burning, eating away, a horrific sensation of her skin stretching and tearing and regenerating and repeating, and a very peculiar ache traveling through all the veins and arteries of her body. She must've had more alcohol in her system than she was aware of.

She felt a tear fall involuntarily down her cheek and Neji wiped it away with his sleeve. Her eyes were swollen from all the random tears she'd been having. Just then Ino entered the room holding the jelly and a roll of bandages, with Temari trailing behind. Neji promptly stood up and left.

"Hinata, my poor baby," Ino cried.

Hinata laughed and her breath hitched again. "I-I-I a-am n-n-not a b-ba-baby."

Ino knelt beside her and opened the jar of jelly. She lifted the thick blanket to expose the necessary areas of Hinata's body. "'Kay, just lie still. I'm gonna apply the jelly and wrap you with bandages afterward, alright? Wow, a lot of your cuts healed already!"

Soon a numbing sensation overtook her aching wounds and Hinata stared at the texture of the ceiling. Temari sat down on the other side of Hinata and she turned her pale eyes to her friend.

"T-T-Temari-s-san..."

"Shh, don't waste your breath. Just rest. You were very good back there."

"I w-want to k-keep m-my scars."

"...You need rest. Seriously."

"I-It's not w-worth the p-pain..."

"Don't worry, only one session of medication is good enough."

Hinata sniffled, glancing at Temari's hand. "I-I-I-I'm s-s-so so-sorry for w-what I d-d-did t-to–"

"Don't say sorry! You did nothing wrong. Just focus on healing properly."

In the medicinal bath, Hinata had gripped Temari's hand so hard that it left a dark bruise there which would last almost a week. Another tear fell down her cheek. Temari wiped it away with a finger. "Your eyes are so swollen, " she commented. Then a baffled look came into her dark green eyes.

"Some news, Hinata. Gaara is taking you out of work for a bit. If you want. He got permission from the Matriarch."

"What?" Hinata jerked her head up, then slowly let it down. "Oh. W-well, I-I guess I'll go. I h-hope this d-discomfort w-would be gone by then."

"It will be in around three hours, so the pain would be temporarily gone. You should be able to move somewhat comfortably by then. So enough time to recover." Temari hesitated, then a sly grin appeared on her features. She appraised Hinata mischievously.

"W-What, Temari-s-san?"

Her grin grew more pronounced. "Is there something going on between you and my little brother, Miss Hyuga Hinata?"

"N-n-n-no. No! I-It's j-j-just a b-business m-matter, y-you'll see."

Throwing her head back, Temari laughed hard.

"Yes. Yes, I agree. I think." She left the room laughing, leaving Hinata in a state of bewilderment.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

By four o clock, the pain had died down considerably and Hinata was able to move with little pain though the slight tremors and hitches remained and her energy was considerably drained. She discreetly made her way to the secret headquarters. Though her memories after the medicinal bath were a drunken haze, she was aware of the concern she had caused amongst her friends. She did not want to impose anymore worry onto them.

In the headquarters, she saw the paper-wrapped package lying on top of her backpack. Smiling, she unwrapped the paper to reveal the soft wool trench coat she had bought earlier that morning. She slowly held it out, the blue threads glistening in the light. Pushing her arms into the sleeves, she went to the mirror. It was slimming and long enough to stop at her knees, as was the white dress. She felt she made a good choice.

Then spotting her face, she cringed. Her eyes were pink and swollen. Her face looked beyond its normal paleness—her body never failed to show any physical stress inflicting her body. She looked tired all over.

The door clicked and Tenten entered the room. She spotted Hinata. "Gosh, Hinata, you were here this whole time? I've been looking everywhere for you." She paused, then gasped.

"Oh my goodness. Hinata! You look so pretty!"

Hinata blushed. "I...Thank you. I'm j-just trying this on right now."

Nodding, Tenten pointed to Hinata's legs. "The coat would look good with leggings. But it's too hot to wear the coat. Ah, I have a spare pair of ankle-high open toes I got from the Konoha Weapons center. They gave it to me for free because I've been promoted Jounin rank."

Hinata clapped happily. "I'm so p-proud for you, Tenten-chan!"

Tenten giggled. "Here, let's try on those shoes now, shall we? I bet it'll look great."

**o o o o o o o o o o**

"Hinata, you look sexy!" Ino shrieked when Tenten brought her over to the aromatherapy office. Tenten had made Hinata to take off the jacket, which Hinata had no excuse for since it was a warm day. So she was forced to wear just the white dress which revealed her fully bandaged arm and leg, along with the open-toed shoes Tenten had donated.

"The bandages add a touch of toughness to counter the femininity of the image," Ino gushed. "This is lovely. Oh, if only I could run over to my parents' flower shop and fetch a flower for your hair! We have to show Temari!"

"Oh p-please, I-I wanted to j-just–"

"Oh shush, shush! Beauty like this cannot be ignored!"

She protested but they still succeeded in pushing her down to the first floor.

"Temari! Temari-san!" Ino spotted the four blond pigtails towards the entrance of the building and waved her arm vigorously.

"Temari, look at Hinata!" Tenten called. Temari turned around to see. And from behind her, Kankuro and Gaara looked over Temari's head towards Hinata.

The blood drained from her face. No. She couldn't have them see her like this, in a sleeveless dress that showed her arms and legs. Especially not Gaara and Kankuro.

"P-please!" she protested. "P-please, let me go! I-I have to c-c-change b-back!"

"No way, lady. We're gonna show you off."

She had trouble escaping; her bandages restricted and stiffened her movements. Tenten's and Ino's strong arms steered her to where the Sand siblings stood.

"P-_Please!_" A particularly strong wiggle successfully gave Hinata the chance to escape Tenten and Ino. She began running down the path. Unfortunately, Temari was faster.

"Hinata, you know you agreed to meeting Gaara," Temari said, blocking the path. Her teal eyes watched Hinata sternly, her hands were on her hips. This meant Hinata was not getting away with anything. She looked over her shoulder timidly. Gaara was simply standing there, his eyes appraising her in a strangely familiar way she couldn't place. Her blush grew profound and she faced Temari once more. Temari now crossed her arms and scowled.

Knowing that she was accountable, Hinata slowly backed up. She turned around again and to her great relief saw that only Kankuro was there, pretending to arrange the shoes on the mats. His face was red from restraining his laughter.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

His head turned when the sound of soft footsteps stopped behind him. Gaara looked up at Hinata from where he was sitting on a rock. Her hair covered her eyes but still disclosed the embarrassed blush on her face.

"Are you feeling okay?"

She nodded.

"If you're too tired, you don't have to come."

She shook her head.

"Well then, shall we go...?"

She nodded. They began a slow walk out the garden gates into the bustling town. It was nearing sunset; warm orange light was shed on the sides of the houses and buildings, stretching long blue shadows across the landscape. The clear blue sky was speckled with cirrostratus clouds that were changing color with the sun's movement.

Gaara and Hinata strolled quietly, simply appreciating each other's company. Though Hinata felt she bored her company with her quiet talk and occasional awkward silences, it didn't feel that way with Gaara. In fact, upon secretly observing him, he seemed to like the silence more than talking. They passed through the vender-filled paths, pointing each other out to an interesting object or funny antic of a child. Eventually, they reached the outskirts of town where grass fields stretched into rice paddies. They stopped at the foot of a hill, where they travelled upward on a dirt path through the grass. Gaara gently wrapped his arm around Hinata's waist to help her while she followed his footsteps.

He took in Hinata's weary appearance while she was busy watching her step. Noticing her swollen eyes, her unusually pale skin, and a small tremor shaking her frame ever so slightly, he could only wonder what compelled her to choose his company over rest.

At the top of the hill, they were in a meadow of grass. In the middle was a small pond of clear water. Since they were in direct sunlight, it took Hinata a while to notice the small pond. It held no plants or fish.

"I made this pond," Gaara said, reaching into his pocket, "for this."

He held out a small pitch black stone to Hinata. She turned it over in her hand.

"It's a mineral my demon had taught me to cultivate."

Somewhat surprised but not at all startled, Hinata did recall that the Sabaku no Gaara of Suna was a jinchuuriki, host to the Shukaku. It had been taken from him years ago, along with that unforgettably bloodthirsty and psychotic expression he wore when they were only children at the Chuunin exams. She looked to check if any signs of his previous insanity was still apparent on his face.

Gaara turned to meet her gaze just as she looked up. They stared at each other. Falling into his deep and intense stare, Hinata forgot why she looked up at him in the first place. A blush bloomed on her cheeks and the sickled cut beneath her ear began to throb. She desperately wanted to look away but at the same time didn't want to hurt his feelings. He held the gaze before looking at the mineral in her hand.

"This mineral can memorize an individual's chakra," Gaara explained, while casting another glance at her. "If a person inserted their chakra into something with this mineral, the mineral would memorize it. Then the mineral would disclose its powers only to the person whose chakra it had tasted."

"R-really?" Hinata observed the stone in her hand with interest now. "W-what power does it grant?"

"A defense barrier. A user should leave the mineral to mature for at least one or two months before using it. Also, it will defend you based on the element you cultivated it in. By preserving the rock in fire, it will use fire to protect you. Preserve it with ice, and you will be protected by ice. Mature it by multiple years and the barrier becomes an involuntary response whether you are aware of it or not."

He gestured to the pond. "It works with all elements. But it has a particularly interesting reaction with water. Try it."

Still feeling somewhat weak, Hinata had to concentrate hard to summon chakra. Soon a blue glow emanated from her hands and she forced her chakra into the mineral. By activating her Byakugan she saw the chakra circulating easily throughout channels in the mineral. It began to grow hot and glowing cracks appeared on its surface. Blue plasma forced itself out of the cracks and down her hand.

"Now ease it into the pond," Gaara instructed. Doing as he said, she gently lowered the rock into the water. Her chakra swirled and hardened into vapor-like formations within the water. The chakra froze and attached to the exterior of the rock, pulling it outward. With much tension, the stone slowly cracked open into the shape of a pitch black lotus. Blue lines coursed through the solid petals, shooting needles of tinted glow through the water that was now thick and viscous.

"B-beautiful," she said breathlessly. She turned to Gaara. "D-does this mean to say you cultivated your mineral in sand?"

He nodded. "My demon's element is the sand and it is naturally rich in this mineral. I had no choice but to adopt it from him at birth. Because my chakra generated through the sand for the duration of my life, it granted me an absolute defense."

"W-why did you need an absolute defense?"

His intense eyes turned to her. "Many have tried to assassinate me when I was younger. Mainly due to the orders of my father."

Her eyes opened significantly; staring at the dark circles of his eyes and knowing that each shade darker had been earned, she felt somewhat horrified.

"Eventually it worked out to my benefit greatly. The assassinations have stopped as well."

"T-thank goodness." Her voice was barely a sound but it did not go unheard. His brow creased as he examined her from the corner of his eye. Something perked in her brain. Her voice rose two octaves. "I-is someone t-t-trying to a-a-a-assassinate me too?"

Gaara fully faced her, his eyes wide. Then a genuine smile touched his eyes, hardly discernible but there.

"No." He looked away, his eyes still amused. "It's because you're always getting injured. Yesterday's incident was...unacceptable. And since you're always around water..." he trailed off.

"Thank you, G-Gaara-sama." Carefully she reached over and placed her hand on his, though her heart was slamming in her chest. "Thank you for being so considerate."

Gaara quickly looked away in a manner that was almost shy, his eyes focused hard on the lotus. That strange tight feeling was rising in her heart again, but this time it wasn't unpleasant. Her smile was unstoppable and she held her warm cheeks to the soft wind that blew across the meadow, stirring her hair and the grasses all around. The sun was setting, tinting the clouds in the purplish sky a brilliant glowing pink. Birds flew across the colored void, reflected in the water of the rice paddies within the distance. It was a breathtaking view, but they were quite a ways from the bathhouse and it would be dark soon. Gaara stood up and reached for Hinata's hand to pull her up with him. Her dress swayed as she shakily got up and he secretly appreciated the refreshing change of outfit she wore.

They walked over to the steep incline that led down to the path. Hinata planted a foot upon the dirt.

"Are you sure you can walk down yourself?" Gaara asked warily. His eyes were focused on her shaky ankles.

"I-I'm okay," she said confidently. For some reason, she felt rejuvenated and ecstatic. Of course, her body didn't administer the desired response. She tripped.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

"_I'll be your waitress for tonight!"_ Ino beamed. She was positively giddy with excitement.

Laughing, Hinata put a hand on her pink cheeks. Gaara was watching Ino with some trepidation, alerted by her animation.

"P-please, just b-bring me something simple, Ino-chan." Hinata requested.

"_And you, Kazekage Gaara?_"

"The same."

"_Alright! Your orders will be coming immediately!_"

She headed up the stone path, her speed stopping just short of sprinting. Realizing the weak state of Hinata, Gaara had offered to treat her to a meal in hopes that some of her strength would return. They were sitting on a rail-less veranda overlooking the bathing room, leaning against the pillars and hanging their feet off the edge.

Feeling self-conscious, Hinata kept fidgeting on the plush floor seat, discreetly trying to cover her revealed shins with her dress; she still did not feel comfortable wearing a dress in front of a man.

"Relax."

She jerked her head up at him. Gaara's expression was mellow.

"The dress looks fine. It is pretty."

Hinata blushed, unsure of how to reply. And to Ino's word, bless her, the food came in immediately.

"Here you go," Ino gushed. She placed two bowls of steamed rice, a stone pot of hot soup and a kettle of tea between them. "Something healthy and delicious!"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, _Kazekage Gaara!_ You too, _Hinata_!"

Hinata smiled gently and gestured for Ino to calm down.

"Ah, excuse me. Today was just quite hectic. Have a _lovely_ meal, _you two_," she gushed as she bowed deeply, grinned and left. It was silent for a minute as they concentrated on eating. Having regained some energy, Hinata put her spoon down and smiled.

"Ino is such a character. She is so b-bubbly yet quite intelligent."

"She's very...hyperactive."

Hinata laughed. "She is s-surprisingly observant, as well. S-she found an interesting discovery with my wounds during examination today. I injured my whole side but apparently someone had tried to heal a patch of my skin. I-it's very bizarre."

Gaara looked up sharply.

"But..." Hinata racked her brain for memory. She remembered blood, the painful shower, someone opening the bathroom door, and the surprise she felt when she woke up in the morning wearing nothing but a towel. She shook her head. "I...can't r-remember much of last night. But whenever I think about it, bits and pieces come back."

Turning her eyes to Gaara, she cocked her head. "I-I have a feeling that you might've been there." She leaned forward. "M-maybe you know what happened?" she inquired.

Looking away, Gaara lifted his teacup and took a sip. "Not that I know of," he replied, his voice low.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

"You are dismissed early from work today," Temari announced to Hinata.

"B-but why? I f-feel fine now."

"Your skin is in a state of extreme sensitivity right now. Cuts have healed, but they hold the potential to tear open again. And besides, you're still weak. Doing the heavy duty things like you usually do might get you injured again."

"I can sweep the floor."

"No. Go home and rest."

"B-but..."

Temari crossed her arms aggressively over her chest and narrowed her eyes. Hinata immediately stopped her query.

"Y-yes ma'am."

Walking slowly to the entrance of Yuuto Springs, she tried once more to decipher her memories of last night. Who had carried her to the hotel? She recalled taking a shower before sleeping so that explained the towel. Could Gaara have healed her...? _No, that idea is _absurd, she thought. She knew that Sakura had been at his service last night and that massage sessions could last for hours depending on the customer's demand. And Gaara was quite time-consuming based on his list of demands. Besides, she thought with appall, there was no way she would be able to face him after allowing him to see her in such a vulnerable and sparsely clothed situation.

A hand rested on her shoulder and she started, glancing behind her with shock. It was just Gaara. She shook her head, attempting to clear her mind. She was nervous that Gaara might be a mind-reader and was not prepared to have him read her current thoughts like he did before.

"Let's go," he said.

Walking through the garden, they came upon Deidara who was bent over the ground, busy weeding.

"Dei-kun!"

He turned around and his face instantly lit up. "Hinata-chan!" Then spotting Gaara, his expression darkened as he noted with some anger how the distance he and Hinata had previously kept towards each other had shortened.

"I d-didn't see you all day. H-how are you?"

"Good. Hm."

"L-lots of work?"

"Yeah, whatever. Hm."

Hinata frowned. She took a step towards him.

"Dei-kun? I'm gonna b-be going now. G-Goodnight...have sweet dreams."

"Hm. Whatever."

Hinata stepped back, feeling somewhat hurt. It wasn't like Deidara to be anti-social and she sensed that Gaara's presence might've had something to do with it. Gaara eyed Deidara with some distaste before putting his hand on Hinata's elbow. He began leading her out the garden.

"Oy, Hinata!"

She and Gaara turned around at the same time. Deidara was sitting up on his haunches, pointing his shovel at her.

"Maybe you haven't heard, but you better cancel any appointments tomorrow. The Raikage invited you to an apology dinner."

"A w-what?"

"I'm sure your frequent customers would understand," he said, his voice containing a hint of a sneer. "And my birthday dinner is in three weeks. Remember that you're a guest of honor."

Narrowing his bright green eyes, Gaara turned away to hide his face. He made a point of placing his hand on Hinata's back to encourage her walking. Deidara pouted angrily. He took the shovel in his hands and threw it angrily into the dirt.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

"Kazekage-sama? Aren't you going back to the bathhouse? I-It's only seven in the evening," Hinata called from the bathroom. She was carefully cutting away the bandages on her arms and legs with a kunai she had borrowed from Gaara. Gritting her teeth at the weird sensation she felt when she pulled off the strips, the pungent and slightly minty smell of ointment struck her nose hard.

"There's no need for me to go there tonight."

Poking her head out the door, Hinata snuck a peek at Gaara. He was sitting at the desk in the corner, looking through numerous papers. "Why not?"

He looked up, his eyes a spindrift tint from the lamplight. "The masseur I prefer is unavailable."

Hinata smiled and concentrated once more on her bandages. She stared at her skin in horror. It looked even worse now than in the morning: bloodless and moist, similar to the skin of the preserved bodies she once had to dissect in a medical class. Rolling up the bundle of soiled cloth, she tossed it into the trash and locked the door to shower. Within thirty minutes she was once again covered in ointment and bandages around her arm, waist and leg.

She glanced at Gaara in hopes that he wouldn't be looking at her. Thankfully he was in a state of deep thought, probably absorbed in his work. She smiled at the way he leaned his chair back, guarded from falling by a rope of sand that pushed the chair up once it came down too far. She wondered if work was all he did during the nighttime as she never actually saw him sleep. She went and sat on her bed. Reaching for the paper-wrapped trench coat she had brought with her from the bathhouse, she spread it on the covers and examined its beauty. Then she looked around the room. There was nothing to do. She wanted to be back at the bathhouse, working and serving. Staring at her bandages, she sighed dejectedly and ran a hand through her wet hair.

"You look like you could use a massage."

Hinata turned to Gaara. He was in his usual place at the desk, rocking lazily on his chair and watching her. She smiled. "Y-Yes, one would help right now. H-how is your work coming along?"

"Tedious as hell." There was silence for a moment. "Maybe you can teach me. So I can give you a massage instead."

Hinata tilted her head. "You would like to learn how?"

Gaara approached and sat next to her on the mattress. He grasped her hands in both of his and positioned his fingers, imitating Hinata's style.

"Is this right?"

"Y-Yes. But there is actually six steps. I'll teach you them all. F-first, you increase sensitivity to Qi. A-another word for chakra. P-prayer position of the hands, and then you pull them apart. Like this."

"Ah."

"Second, you relax the hands. S-support the wrist...then hold the person's thumb with your thumb and f-forefinger. T-then rotate clockwise and counterclockwise three times."

"Like this?"

"Yes. Repeat for each of the fingers."

"What do I do after?"

"S-stretch the palm. We need a flat surface."

"Just use my thigh."

"T-thank you...palm down, you form the peace sign with your peace fingers."

"Ha. Peace fingers?" Gaara smirked.

"Yes...then you flip the finger. Like this."

"Okay. What's fourth?"

"You loosen the wrist. H-hand-chopping technique. Like this. Palm outstretched. And you lightly s-slap the palm in a chopping motion. Then fifth, you gently pull t-the wrist."

"Is this right?"

"C-correct. Then you stroke the hands. Please bring your lap here. I-I need your lap. Okay...palm down. Y-you web your fingers and you stroke the back of the hand toward the wrist, in one direction, three times." Hinata blushed deeply as he stroked her hand gently as she instructed. Gaara was quite a good student for a beginner.

'Now please position your hands like b-before. Right. Oh...M-massaging that m-muscle can t-treat the transverse colon. The abductor pollicis brevis."

"...What?"

"The thumb muscle that sticks out when y-you stretch your palm."

"This one, right?"

"Y-yes."

She giggled quietly. "T-there's supposedly a map on your hand...massaging certain areas p-produce reflexes in a d-different part of your body. I'll teach you the lung reflex. Y-you put your fingers there. T-then you knead it like I did."

"Am I doing it right?"

She smiled. "You're doing very good."

"Can you teach me everything you know?"

"Of course."

And any anxiety of having to wake up early for work eventually faded into oblivion.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

The next day, work seemed somewhat duller than usual. She still was not allowed to handle heavy duty work and Deidara was nowhere to be seen. Kiba had pointed out Deidara's location once but upon looking at him Hinata sensed his surliness and didn't even attempt to approach him. Later, the Matriarch called Hinata up to her office.

"I hope you remember that the Raikage has invited you to a dinner that's happening in half an hour," the woman said. "If he gives you anything, bring it to me. You are free to leave after you report to me."

"Yes ma'am."

Hinata found the Raikage pacing around the room, his ochre-colored robe fluttering around his legs. He spotted Hinata and grinned widely.

"Ah, sorry, Hyuga-san!" He cried. "I had to cancel the dinner last minute because some matters arose in my country. I have to return as soon as possible."

"Oh." Surprised, Hinata perked up. This was good; she didn't want to have an apology dinner with the Raikage anyway.

"I have brought you a gift, in hopes of appeasing the trouble I put you through since day before yesterday," he murmured. "Please take it as a token of my sincere apology." His large tanned palms held a silk-wrapped square package. She gingerly took it and bowed.

"Thank you, Raikage-sama," she said.

"Please, do not thank me! I do not deserve it! I wish you the best of luck with your massage. When I come back I shall be sure to request you! I must leave now, farewell!" And just like that, he was gone in a cloud of static shock.

"He just gave you this and left without even treating you to dinner?" The Matriarch said later, examining the Raikage's gift between her fingers. It was a small comb fashioned from polished black coral, with an elegant design of emerald vines and leaves.

"Well, it is quite pretty. Yours to keep." The Matriarch handed back the comb. "You may go home now. Tomorrow, you will be starting real work once more as I assume you are properly treating your scars. Also, I want you to come to my office first thing in the morning. We will perform the first healing procedure of your wounds."

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

"...Now. The massage for treating insomnia occurs on the feet. You start with the relaxation technique as always...the thing about this massage is that you perform a different rub on each toe."

"Show me?"

"Here, I'll need y-your feet."

"That feels funny."

Small giggles. "Did you wash your feet?"

"Nope."

Small hands froze and abruptly pulled themselves back.

"Just kidding." Gaara smirked bemusedly at the mock anger on Hinata's face.

"So this is how you massage each toe."

"Give me your foot. ...Like this?"

"Gaara-sama, that tickles!"

"Now you know what it feels like."

A large growl emanated in the room and Gaara dropped Hinata's foot. She blushed and shyly covered her stomach. "I-I'm sorry, Gaara-kun. The Raikage had to leave early so I-I was unable to eat dinner." She glanced at the clock and gasped.

"Eleven-thirty?"

It was a long while they had both been at the hotel. But what startled her was how Gaara had managed to memorize the body reflex maps on the hands and feet and adequately learn and perform seven treatment massages in less than seven hours.

"Y-you're a very swift learner, G-Gaara-kun," she noted, genuine surprise in her eyes. "And you have good control of your hand muscles. With practice y-you might even be able to surpass m-masseurs in training."

"Oh?" Gaara said. He was looking at his gourd in the corner, remembering. Under the Fourth Kazekage's tutelage he had been bestowed with endless studies during his sleepless nights as a child. Once having been a future war-machine, aside from training his ninjitsu he was forced to create and unravel complicated war tactics, excel at almost every logical subject available and know how to wield every single godforsaken weapon there was. Gaara learned to thank him for it. But perhaps the only thing the old man didn't teach him was love and some manners.

It was silent for a moment. "My father taught me to learn things quickly."

"What was he—" Hinata began, before common sense stopped her. She recalled how his father tried to kill him because of overt criticism, holding open desires to rid himself of the problem child. Just like her own father. She silenced the matter, contenting herself simply by knowing there was a reason Gaara was once psychotic in the past. Thinking of her father made her depressed; surely he must feel the same.

"You were hungry, weren't you?" Gaara said, standing up. He walked over to his gourd and strapped it to his back. "We can go to a late night vendor."

"Okay." Hinata pulled on her blue coat and waited at the door for Gaara.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Later, sitting on a rooftop in the darkness, they quietly slurped their bowls of hot noodles and watched the stars. Hinata had her Byakugan activated, on the lookout for shooting stars that might appear. She sensed Gaara turn to her in the dark.

"I'm leaving tomorrow."

Her chopsticks stopped midway to her mouth. She was startled by the sudden pang of longing that struck her, similar to what she felt when she had her first sleepover with friends and eventually had to return home.

"O-one month?"

"Maybe longer."

Setting her chopsticks back into the bowl, she clasped her hands together and looked down without saying anything. As much as she wanted to avoid him before, she marveled at the transition now.

"I-I...I wish y-you could s-stay longer, Gaara-kun."

Gaara looked at her with some astonishment. He had heard many positive comments about himself as of late and had gathered many friends since, this was true. But no one ever asked him to stay longer simply because they liked his company. What bewildered him more was that she sincerely meant it. He swallowed.

"If..."

Hinata looked at Gaara. He was looking up at the sky, staring at the twinkling lights.

"If you...ever need a friend to talk to, about anything..." he drifted off, then started again. "Then I'm here. To listen. Even if I am in Suna."

A grin rose into her expression. Beaming, she shifted closer to him. "Thank you, Gaara-sama."

She smiled up at the stars in the sky, recalling all the times she had wished for someone who would willingly be there for her. The feeling that she might have found that friend pleased her to no end.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

The next morning, after a somewhat sleepless night for both of them, Gaara walked Hinata to Yuuto Springs. Staying for an hour or so with his siblings, the majority of the employees followed him outside to wish him a safe trip. Amongst the crowd, Hinata noticed Gaara repeatedly glancing at her. She waited in the entrance until everyone was gone before approaching him. She gave him a respectful bow.

"F-farewell, Kazekage-sama...please get back safely," she said, her eyes simultaneously happy and sad. Pointing to her hands, she added, "Remember to practice the reflex techniques!"

Gaara smirked. "Yes, I will. And you also mustn't forget..."

Hinata cocked her head. "Hm?"

Looking both sides, Gaara leaned in. "The lotus," he whispered into her ear. She felt his feathery red hair brush against her cheek. Her breath hitched but she quickly regained her composure.

"O-o-of course," she smiled.

* * *

**HAHAHAHAHAH! THIS LONG CHAPTER IS IN COMPENSATION TO MY YEAR-LATE UPDATING. YO YO YO!**


	11. Fuse

_**The Therapist**_

_Chapter Eleven_

**o o o o o o o o o o**

**First and foremost,** I want to thank everyone who reviewed! I got the majority of them through private messages o.o ...something about being unable to review the chapter? But I'm so grateful that you guys took the time to message me. It brightened my day :) and continues to whenever I think about it! You guys are truly awesome :D Reviews are cookies to my soul :D

Also, about the chakra system that will occur in this chapter, just a note: as I did my research and based much of the chakra interfuse on actual information, so it might be confusing as to what is real and what isn't. The chakra interfusing it is entirely an invention of my own, so just be aware that the interfuse part isn't true, and the masculine/feminine references! Everything else is, though.

**3-31-11 EDIT:** Jeebus damn. I meant to upload this chapter last weekend during spring break. But the story edit feature didn't work for over a week. I'M SO GLAD I COULD UPLOAD! Lol.

* * *

The Matriarch and Hinata were in Ino's office. Laying sideways on a blanket on the floor, Hinata was biting her lip and slowly counting into the hundreds. The Matriarch was kneeling over Hinata's body, green glow in hand as she carefully sealed one injury after another. She pulled back after five more minutes, kneeling back on her haunches to examine her work.

"Not bad. The medicinal baths have done good work to your skin. Though I must say that the good intentions of the person who attempted to heal you shall remain," the Matriarch said. Hinata lifted her head and looked at her body. There were marks still marring her skin, but they were a light pink color in contrast to the three large, red jagged lines remaining on her hip.

"With habitual usage of the jelly these scars should fade under half a year. You should still cover the scars with bandages to prevent any damage from the sun."

"Yes ma'am. Thank you. I'll be sure to remember."

The Matriarch handed Hinata a paper package of herbs. "This is a month's supply. These herbs should soothe the pain and quicken the healing process. You are allowed to use a hot spring here to take your bath after-hours."

Several hours passed and lunchtime came. Leaving the kitchen with a bowl of rice topped with baked lobster, Hinata was pulled over into the secret headquarters by none other than Temari.

"Hinata, come have lunch with me," Temari said as she kicked a pillow off the sofa and sat. Hinata settled beside her and smiled. She had noticed that Temari often went by herself to eat and felt honored that it was she Temari wanted to spend time with on her rare days of socialization.

"So, Hinata, what is it you like about my brothers?"

A piece of baked lobster stopped halfway to Hinata's mouth. "What?"

"Kankuro and Gaara. What do you like about them?"

Hinata blinked. Putting the lobster into her mouth, she chewed thoughtfully. "Well...I-I don't really know Kankuro-san. I usually get the impression that Kankuro-san dislikes me...but sometimes he randomly smiles at me and I feel a little better." She poked at her rice. "I-I'm also really grateful that day when I was injured by the glass, because he looked out for me then..."

Temari smirked. "Kankuro doesn't dislike you. It's just in his nature to be mean to newcomers. And kids," she added, chuckling. "So what about Gaara? Why do you like him?"

"Um..."

"Because the only time I see you both communicating together is when you're giving him a massage. So I'm wondering how you both established a friendship beyond work," Temari said quickly, hoping she didn't sound too eager.

Blushing somewhat, Hinata bashfully appraised her food and began mixing the rice and lobster together.

"At the Chuunin exams, I remember that he was really, really scary. And he was even scarier that day when I first personally met him."

Temari nodded.

"He was very mean, at first," Hinata continued. "But that one night...he looked out for me. He protected me from someone dangerous. And he continues to make sure I'm safe and okay..."

"Really? How so?"

Hinata considered telling Temari about how he shared his hotel room with her, but realized how wrong that would sound. "He...bought a hotel room for me when I moved out of my apartment. Sometimes, we would eat dinner together," she explained, trying to make it brief. "A-and he makes sure I am escorted back home. He was really nice about my injuries, and being unable to work for him. He treated me out, instead..."

"_Really?_"

Hinata nodded. "I admit he is intimidating on the outside. But inside, he is a v-very kind and considerate person. I can see he also cares for others' well-being, a-aside from his remarkable ability to frighten them without even trying." She looked Temari dead in the eye. "I don't understand why others would be scared of him when he means them no harm."

Temari stared at Hinata for a moment. She bit her lips together to keep from laughing and her face turned red. Between poorly disguised snickers, she choked, "Tell me more!"

"I-I find it easy to enjoy h-his company," Hinata asserted, growing defensive when she noticed Temari's amusement. "H-his good intentions must be the reason why he is so admired in the Sand. I hold the same reverence."

"Ah...yes, sorry," Temari said, blotting her eyes out on her sleeve. "Wow. You must know more about my little brother than myself."

Hinata perked up. "It's not hard because you three are actually quite similar!"

"What?"

"Strong, protective, and a scary first impression. Oh, and all of you share the same smile!"

Then it was Hinata's turn to burst into giggles while Temari sat speechless.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Peeking over the paper screen, Hinata spied on Deidara who was ten feet away, busily conducting water maintenance. Suddenly he swiveled around. Hinata squeaked and ducked behind the screen.

"Who's there?" Deidara demanded. Slowly, Hinata held out her hand and waved before poking her head out.

"H-hello, Dei-kun...how are you?" She walked out from behind the screen as Deidara turned back and resumed busying himself with his tools.

"I-I didn't see you at lunch today."

"I didn't eat today, hm." His hand clattered around inside his bucket of tools. Somehow the noise seemed magnified. "So. No more Gaara?"

"N-no...he left for Suna just this morning."

"Hm. I'm glad he's gone."

Hinata looked down at her toes and frowned. "How come you do not like him?"

Deidara hesitated. Then he replied somewhat accusingly, "You're always gone when he's here, and only when he's gone you are here..."

Apparently her friend was still in a grousing mood. She would leave him alone. "Well, I'll be going now...just wanted to drop by. Work hard, Deidara."

"Wait." Hinata turned around to see Deidara considerably happier looking. He gestured to her and she went and crouched beside him.

"How've you been? I missed you the past couple of days, hm."

"I've been good," she said.

"Your injuries are okay?"

"Yes, I have medicine to use. So I just need to be careful."

"Good. You remember what I told you last night?"

"Um...oh! Your birthday party! Where will it be?"

"Here. I've reserved the best hot tubs and ordered tons of food. Promise me you'll come, hm?"

"I promise. Is there anything you would like as a gift?"

"Hinata-chan!" Both turned to look up at the third-floor balcony. Ino was waving her arm rigorously. "The Matriarch wants to see you!"

**o o o o o o o o o o**

"I have decided. That you are ready. To formally begin your extensive training for masseur."

A thin hand gestured to a wrapped bundle of clothes on the table.

Hinata gasped, then clapped her hands with glee. She laughed, a pleasant sound that tinkled throughout the room. The Matriarch smiled and sat down at her desk.

"I've noticed that you have been working very hard, despite your constant injuries. And developing good relationships, in the meantime. There is no better time to prepare for your debut."

Hinata's laughter faded and a new thought entered her mind.

"What about Sakura-san?"

The Matriarch scoffed. "Oh, her? She may have been a good masseur, but she can speak for herself. I have set a weekly allowance for her to surpass. Now, go help Shikamaru make blend. Your training will begin tomorrow in the evening."

That night, Hinata decided to withdraw the hotel room, insisting to the clerk that the month's pay be put on her account and not the Kazekage's. It took her only five minutes to pack her meager supply of clothing and toiletries. Standing in the entrance of the hotel room, her white eyes scanned the area and she smiled, remembering the hours she and Gaara had spent practicing massage. She also recalled the way Gaara would occupy the desk in the corner, leaning back way too far in the chair by supporting himself with a pillar of his sand. At the thought, she looked towards the desk and cocked her head.

A white piece of paper was lying on its surface. It appeared to have writing on it. Walking over to the table, she picked up the paper. It was an envelope, with an address to Suna penned on the back. The envelope contained a paper scribbled with random questions. _"Gaara"_ was signed at the bottom of the paper, along with a bad sketch that implied a person with a gourd. Hinata grinned openly and held the envelope to her chest. She believed he wrote the letter during the times he was bored of his work. She turned it over to look at the address once more. She would write the reply letter tonight.

Hinata stood in front of the glass doors of the hotel, closing her eyes to smell the fresh night air of spring. The days were growing longer and the night sky was not quite dark enough for streetlights. She pulled her coat around her shoulders and headed down the steps. She stopped. Against a faraway rooftop, a silhouette stood pin-straight, painted black against the fading blue backdrop of the western portion of sky. She couldn't tell which direction the person was facing, but she could tell that the person was not dressed in ninja attire.

She shrugged her shoulders and turned away from the silhouette, her thoughts focused on renting out an apartment complex that she had had her eye on for a while. However, as she hurried away she couldn't shake the eerie feeling that the silhouette might be watching her.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

The next evening, Hinata met the Matriarch in her office, just as the sun was setting and casting the large room in tints of golden pink. The Matriarch went straight to business.

"In addition to your becoming masseur and advertising your special service, I will specifically teach you myself: the art of chakra-interfusing.

"As you know, our bodies hold seven main chakra centers, all of them a different color of the rainbow. Each of these chakras have their own intelligence and therefore is connected to our soul, health and belief system on a physical, mental, spiritual and emotional level."

Hinata activated her Byakugan, enabling her to see the chakra system of herself. She noticed certain areas of her body were concentrated in chakra. "I can see it," she breathed. "The seven main chakras. It's along my spinal cord..."

The Matriarch nodded. "If there is any pollution or blockage that causes a chakra imbalance or if a chakra center is out of sync with the others, it probably will effect its neighboring chakra. It is usually felt physically, intellectually, emotionally or mentally. To balance a chakra on any of those levels, you treat that specific chakra with the color it is designated with.

"Or," she said, an intelligent sparkle appearing in her eye, "you use chakra interfusion."

"Chakra interfusion is the act of injecting your own chakra into another person's chakra system. Chakra is our life force and to combine the life forces of two people together is a pleasurable experience since we are naturally social beings. It is even more enjoyable when you use your chakra to heal and nurture the other person's chakra. It doesn't seem like much but according to the theory of life energies two chakras that bind together will produce a nice sensation when the users switch chakras. It is like a complete body-healing using both of your chakras. If your chakra bounds well with theirs, then there's the ability to even exchange chakra with each other. Since that is the case, chakra interfuse is used sparingly and considered a somewhat intimate matter since you are almost literally blending your two souls together. By doing this, you are directly communicating with that person on all their levels.

"The most basic treatment of this interfuse is physical. Next is emotional, then mental, then spiritual. Take for example, the heart chakra. On your most basic level you would be able to improve blood circulation in the body. Intermediately, you will promote their complex feelings such as love, compassion, well-being and rejection. Advance the technique, and promote passion in their minds. Master the technique and you may influence their beliefs, including the other three levels. They may find you very agreeable especially if you have performed an enjoyable interfuse.

"Take in mind, however, that not all interfuses are successful. Such as two people who hate each other. Their interfusion would be agonizing. Or if one of the participants in an interfuse is abnormally negative, the interfusion would be grating.

"Also note that masculinity and femininity affect the 'feel' of a chakra. For example, a male's chakra—a masculine one, would feel somewhat...carbonated. It will feel textured. It is usually hot or cold. A woman's chakra is much different. Just as a male's immune system is sturdy while a female's immunity is extremely sensitive, her chakra will be the same. It will absorb some of the qualities of the chakra it is interfusing with, but generally it will feel smooth and flowing like water. It differs between warm and cool but can even be hot or cold like a man's; hardly any woman's chakra is lukewarm. A lukewarm chakra has no results."

Hinata raised her hand. "Ma'am, I understand that combining chakra can be quite an intimate process since it deals with our emotions and beliefs...but I do not quite understand why i-it's so heavily restricted."

"Activate your Byakugan."

Hinata complied. She looked down at her chakra system.

"Now, since you observed that your centers are aligned against your spinal cord, note their locations."

There was a center on the crown of her head, one on her brow, then her throat, heart, solar plexus, and spleen. Her heart lurched at the last one.

"Y-you can't mean—"

"When you perform an interfuse, you must treat all seven chakra centers at once to prevent a potentially dangerous imbalance."

"But—!"

"This is your customer's choice to make, not your own. It rests with whether they are considerate of your feelings or not. You should steel yourself against these intimate matters anyway. Though I highly despise the idea, I suggest you have Sakura train you in mastering the technique. There is a reason she attracted so many customers before, close or not." The Matriarch grabbed her gold cone from the wall.

"Sakura, meet Hinata in the masseur's lounge. Remember our conversation and be prepared to teach her."

The woman turned to Hinata. "Get going."

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Hinata entered the room and made eye contact with Sakura. Aside from the sounds of tinkling water, awkward silence hung between them. Taking a deep breath, Hinata forced herself into her professional mode. Be affected by nothing seen or heard. Grow numb to the environment.

Sakura scoffed, looking at Hinata with disdain. "You are already wrong. By forcing yourself to be overly apathetic, you turn your chakra lukewarm and it won't affect the medium. Also, there is a reason why only your closest friends request this service; your chakras would interfuse much easier since they are familiar with each other. They also trust you are trained enough to be neutral to their physical bodies. You must learn to control the influence of the physical over your actions. Get over here."

As Sakura turned away she rolled her eyes. Hinata sensed her agitation; no doubt that training one's competitor would be a very delicate situation. Sakura walked over to the massage table with Hinata following behind. Putting her hands together, Sakura summoned a shadow clone of herself on the table.

"Now. When you use chakra on the outside of the body, you can heal injuries such as cuts and bruises which lie on the surface of the skin. However, in order to get at the internal structures the chakra must go _under_ the skin. And to do that, you must lacerate it."

Sakura held out a glowing blue hand and held it over the wrist of her clone. The blue sharpened into a point. Sakura slowly lowered her hand. The clone gave out an anguished cry and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"And as you can see," she said, "getting cut by blue chakra is painful, and it doesn't diffuse through the body. You have to cut through their skin, but it will hurt the person. So how do you enter the chakra system of the person you are treating?"

"Y-you transfer your chakra through a-a body opening," Hinata answered quietly. She looked at the table while Sakura appraised her.

"Hm. Not as foolish as you act."

Hinata jerked her head up. Before she could say anything, Sakura had already summoned another clone.

"There is also another way you can insert your chakra. With blue chakra you might enter their chakra system via the mouth, nose or ears. But with medical training, you could create green chakra. And green chakra diffuses into the tissues, enabling the healer to go beneath the skin without cutting it open."

Smiling contentedly to herself, Sakura held up her hand and her fingertips began to glow green. She put her fingers to her clone and the chakra was absorbed by the skin.

"When you're performing the interfuse, you must make sure they aren't wearing garments as clothing will obviously interfere with the chakra connection that enables you to control it. And the best method as of late is to put your fingers where the chakra center is located. Including the crotch," Sakura said, sneering at the nervous look on Hinata's face. "Get over it, you're gonna have to deal with it someday."

"Now then," she said, clapping her hands together. "Since you got the point, I guess I won't need to waste my time anymore." She turned to leave.

"W-wait! I-I don't have green chakra...A-aren't I supposed to learn how to insert the blue chakra safely?"

Sakura turned and faced Hinata. "That's for you to teach yourself," she replied coolly. "Oh, and one more thing? What the Matriarch forgot to mention is that when a person is effected physically by the interfuse, it includes more than just...health and circulation," she said slowly, watching Hinata's expression.

Hinata gulped. With that, Sakura left.

Hinata sighed, summoned a clone and placed her hand on the clone's forehead. Closing her eyes, she recalled the exclusive Hyuga ninja trainings she had to endure as a child; it was all about focusing chakra to specific areas of the body and knowing how to damage one's chakra circulation by aiming at certain points.

_If there was a technique to attack someone's chakra system then is it possible a reverse method exists?_ she thought. She would try and delve deeper into her bloodline's history for some assistance.

Holding her hand up, she focused chakra to her fingertips and, rather than sharpening the chakra into a point she allowed it to spread into a large bubbly vapor around her hand. She held her hand over the clone's nose and watched as the blue smoke of chakra was inhaled by her clone, settling in the throat. Hinata concentrated very hard, never blinking or looking away from the cloud of chakra inside the clone's system. Pressing her fingers very lightly to the clone's neck, she moved the cloud to her forehead, the first of the chakra systems.

Suddenly, the clone gasped, choked and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Hinata cried out in surprise. She summoned another clone, and this time held her hand above the mouth. Again, she attempted to guide the chakra down the trachea and esophagus towards the heart, but the clone coughed, choked and exploded once more.

Apparently inhaling the chakra was not good for the host as it was virtually blood in the form of blue plasma. Hinata summoned another clone and attempted to cut through its skin after numbing the target area with chakra, but the clone cried out and disappeared.

Hinata frowned. She thought of Sakura, and the Matriarch's high opinion of her skill. She felt the old feeling of surrender tug at her heart once more as she began to realize it was a possibility that no matter what she did, she might not be as good as Sakura. She might never find out how to safely insert chakra, wouldn't ever nurture someone's life energy with her own, never really live up to the Yuuto's masseur position...

_No_.

Hinata opened her eyes.

_I have the Byakugan. I'll make my own style. I'll find a way and I'll keep practicing nonstop until I surpass her. I may be a cripple compared to her, but I am not blinded like she is. I see paths that she cannot see...I will surpass her._

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Nervously appraising the thin envelope in her hand, Hinata pressed the doorbell to the Hyuga manor and listened as a screen slid open and a sandalled pair of feet approached the door. The hinges creaked as the door was hoisted open and Hinata found herself looking into the face of her father, who smiled. He was happy to see her.

"Hinata! It has been a long time. Come in!"

Inside, Hinata bowed to her father and held up the envelope.

"What's this?" he asked.

"T-this is my most recent paycheck, Father...I have officially been promoted to the masseur position, and I felt it right to give you the first paycheck I received on the job."

Hiashi smiled and took the envelope. "It looks like you have been working hard. So what else brings you here?"

"I-I was wondering if you could teach me about...well, about the technical aspects of the Hyuga fighting style. L-like the techniques we use to affect the chakra systems of a-another person."

"You don't mean _Jyuuken_? You already know how to wield it. Why do you need to learn any more about that?"

"Not that. I need to know the flexibility of its functioning." Hinata looked up at her father, her eyes unmoving and serious. "Please."

Hiashi watched her suspiciously for a moment, then turned. "Follow me," he called.

Later on, Hiashi stood by the door as Hinata pulled on her shoes. Her bookbag was heavy with the remaining belongings she had taken from her room.

Hinata lifted her chin. "I'm moving out, Father. So...you can use my room for s-storage or something useful..."

"Well", he said gruffly. He cleared his throat and shifted. "Good luck, I suppose."

Looking steadily at him, Hinata bowed. "Good bye. Thank you for teaching me everything today. It really helped. I hope you and the rest of the family stay safe. I'll drop by once in a while." She turned away and disappeared quickly beyond the pathway.

As she was unpacking her bag back at the apartment, a black box fell out of the pocket. She picked it up and looked at it curiously; she didn't recall putting the box into her bag. Opening the box, it contained the lovely black comb that the Raikage had given her as an apology gift. She watched it for a moment and looked at the scarred skin of her arms. Heading over to a mirror, she pulled her hair up into a bun, picked the comb out of the box and inserted it at the base of her bun. Her eyes stared at the reflection in the mirror, then closed before she let out a sigh. She felt free. Free from her family and some of the repression that she had been feeling at the bathhouse.

**o o o o o o o o o o**

The hours elongated into days, the days into weeks, soon becoming one month, nearing to two. Because Hinata was now promoted to the masseur position, she was allowed to spend her days practicing her chakra infusion. At work she found herself giving massages to old teachers and many friends, including frequent customers she had befriended. Even Tsunade had stopped by to receive a massage and see her progress. In the evenings after she was escorted to her new home by Deidara, she would soak in a bath with the herbs the Matriarch had given her and constantly find her thoughts wrapping around Gaara. Early on the following mornings, she would hike to the hill with the pond to check on the lotus he had created for her. And every two weeks, a reply letter would return from Suna. They were brief and direct, but Hinata didn't mind. Judging from them she would realize Gaara was a man of very few words who spoke with a purpose.

* * *

"Happy birthday, Deidara!"

Hinata grinned, then blushed and looked away. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't get you a birthday gift...I-I didn't know what you would like and didn't want to get you anything you wouldn't use, I'm sorry—"

"It's fine, it's fine, hm! Your gift to me is that you came!"

She began to smile, but cried out as Deidara slung his arm around her.

"Now let's get to the party!"

The party was to start in the afternoon and last all night long, held in the public hot springs of the bathhouse. Tables were set up and were groaning under piles of food and alcohol. All of the employees were there, soaking in the hot springs and enjoying the condiments. Deidara took one look at the sake and groaned.

"It will take forever for me to get drunk on these," he groused.

Eventually, most of the workers borderline or full-on drunk. Kankuro, Deidara and Kiba were still trying to drink their way to oblivion while in contrast, Rock Lee lay unconscious and chained in the corner. The only sober people were Hinata, Temari, Shino and Chouji; Chouji was unable to get drunk mainly due to his large size and the rest just didn't like alcohol.

Hinata was entertained by the many funny drunken antics of her friends but found her energy drained after tending to the unending foolish acts and messes. Checking a clock, she saw that it was half past eight. The party had been going for almost four hours so far.

Hinata pulled Temari aside and told her she would take a bath since she needed a break.

"Sure," Temari replied. "Oh, and be sure to get back quick, I have a surprise for you at nine."

"A surprise?"

Temari just gave Hinata a seemingly suspicious smirk and winked.

"Don't take too long!"

**o o o o o o o o o o**

Hinata was crouched behind the bamboo screen, wiping her tears and trying in vain to keep her tremors at bay. Bathwater dripped from her towel into a puddle on the floor. She did not bother to brush the long hair plastered to her face, which was wet with water and tears.

How could he have found her? They had been so close, sending small but meaningful exchanges despite the distance that separated them constantly. But still, how could he have _done_ his actions? Now she was not sure she ever wanted to see him again, let alone be his friend.

She wrapped her arms around herself and allowed herself to shiver. It was a failed attempt to try and force herself to forget.

She was taking the bath using the herbs the Matriarch had given her. Since it was still early into the night Hinata took care to choose a locked private spring that would be far away from the party. The herbs neutralized the fizzy compound in the fortified water so the spring was translucent, clearly revealing her slowly healing body from beneath the surface. Aside from making her skin smell like a plant, the herbs really did help in fading the scars but turned it quite sensitive after the baths. Her hair was clipped high above her head and her towel, clothes and undergarments lay by the side of the spring. She closed her eyes and relaxed into the water.

Her head jerked up when she heard the lock being tampered with.

"E-excuse me, this spring is occupied," Hinata called, tensing as she heard the screen door slide open. She expected the shadow behind the screen to apologize and exit, but to her horror the door slid shut once more and she saw his brightly colored hair before he stepped out from behind the screen.

Yelping with shock, Hinata splashed towards her towel to cover herself.

"W-what are you d-doing here! P-P-Please leave!"

His cheeks were slightly tinged with pink but his eyes were steady. He stood there unmoving, his foam-colored eyes calmly watching Hinata as she splashed for cover. Slowly, he slid out of his robes and shirt and lowered himself into the spring.

Hinata panicked, trying as hard as she could to wrap the towel around herself in the water while trying to swim away from him, who was pursuing her with a look in his eye that sparked her fear.

"W-what are you doing?" She protested. "I-I'm bathing, I—"

His arm shot out against the spring-side so that Hinata was trapped.

She glanced at his arm and back to his face. "P-please, t-this is v-very—"

"Don't worry, Hinata. Nothing is going to happen. I just..."

Slowly but deliberately, he leaned his face closer to Hinata's. She cringed and turned away.

"No," she whispered.

"Just once," he murmured.

"No," she repeated, her voice somewhat sharper.

There was a pause. Then suddenly Hinata bolted out of the water, headed for the exit. He was faster. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back into the water and against his chest. He pressed his lips to her neck. Hinata squealed with terror and tried to fight her way out of his grip. Her skin instantly irritated and stung from the contact. Her hair came loose as she went underwater and elbowed him as hard as she could, pushing herself away from his arms. It was lucky for her that he was less athletic then Kankuro, who was the pinnacle against her strength. She resurfaced, gasping for air as she coughed the bathwater out of her mouth. She clambered out of the spring, clutching the soaked towel to her body and slipping on the puddles that formed under her feet.

"Hinata! Wait!" came his frantic cry.

Hinata left everything she had by the spring, taking only the soaked towel with her as she solely concentrated on running away from him as fast as possible. She bolted out of the bathing room and had only turned a right when a pair of people blocked her path. She skidded to a stop to prevent bowling them over, but the puddles beneath her feet offered no friction. She lost her balance and flipped backwards, landing on her shoulders. The sensitive scars on her shoulders reopened and began to bleed. Ignoring the pain, Hinata glanced up, sucking in her breath.

The pair gaped at her with their eyes wide and mouths slightly opened, completely shocked. A flush overtook Hinata's entire body and she felt her lower lip tremble. Tears spilled out of her eyes as she shakily sat up, grimacing from her fresh sores. She recognized that certain odd look in his eye; she knew she had seen it somewhere before, it was so familiar yet so displaced from her memory. At the present moment it only served to make her feel weak.

"Hinata!"

Hinata gasped, swiveling her head around towards the voice and unintentionally whipping water at the arrivals with her wet hair. Rapid footfalls were approaching quickly along with the sound of water splashing to the floor. She bolted to her feet, eyes wide with terror.

Spinning around, she sprinted into the opposite direction away from them, clutching the towel to herself as her sobs began to echo throughout the hallway.

Her pursuer ran into the hall, tracking water onto the wooden floor. He looked after the retreating figure of Hinata and began to chase after her.

"Hinata!" he yelled. A rope of sand lashed around his wrist and he was roughly yanked back. The sand wrapped around his upper body and Deidara found himself face-to-face with the enraged faces of Temari and Gaara.

* * *

**So while I was writing this chapter I suddenly started writing some GaaHina love scenes on the side while working through the snags. Yay, GaaHina love coming up! It's just the problem of _WHEN_! :D**


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